The Goddess Reborn
by Eevee101
Summary: Two mysterious strangers show up in Jump City, with a mission of utmost urgency. They're looking for Terra, but is it for good or evil? Either way, the world, and maybe all the worlds everywhere, may be in grave danger.
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

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….

The time: 6000 BCE:

Long, long ago in a faraway dimension known to its inhabitants and a few others as Flemunia, a very beautiful and mysterious place of non-Euclidean geometry, a world filled with many different types of animals some long extinct from the human realm as well as a few vampires, werewolves, angels, demons and many others-that either were or would become mythical in the lands of men lived a goddess named Azalea. She was a very beautiful woman of immeasurable power, a power exceeded only by the kindness of her heart. Under her fair and just rule, the land was peaceful. Even the angels and demons, normally the deadliest of enemies, lived peaceably side by side.

Azalea was a powerful priestess among her people, as well as the living incarnation of their goddess. She was greatly loved by everyone, including other gods and goddesses. Everyone loved her.

Almost.

As long as there is good in the universe, there will be evil as well. The universe, all universes, exist in a state of balance.

So, it really was inevitable that, at some point, the very embodiment of evil made its way to Flemunia with the intent of destroying everything there.

The battle raged across the entire countryside, turning green fields to ashes, destroying villages, killing many of her subjects. But Azalea fought off the evil with every ounce of strength she had, calling down more Power than even she could handle, enough to level a mountain range, eventually sealing it away in a red gem, but the battle cost her greatly. Even as the evil was sealed away within the gem, so, too, Azalea could feel her very life slipping away. She'd called down too much of the Power; she could tell she didn't have long to live.

But before she died, Azalea made a vow. She vowed that she would be reincarnated someday, when the time was right, when the stars came around again, and, in that someday, whenever it was, she would utterly destroy the evil that had laid waste to the land and caused her people such misery.

And so the goddess Azalea was laid to rest in a small, simple grave with a simple marker over it: the Celtic circled cross, as a symbol of the ever-renewing Ages of the World.

What goes around really does come around. Eventually. Whether you want it to or not.

years later 2005:

It was nearly midnight in Jump City. At the very top of one of the tallest buildings stood two figures. The moonlight from the full moon shone down upon them, illuminating them, but curiously casting no shadows.

One of them was a young man with spiky, fiery-red hair, amethyst eyes, and pale skin . He wore black jeans, a green pullover shirt, and gray tennis shoes. Standing on his right was a very attractive young woman with long navy blue hair, highlighted with streaks of gray. She had her hair tied in a half-ponytail, so that it kept it out of her way, should she need to move quickly. Her eyes were perhaps the most distinctive feature on her face: one was silver and the other one was blood-red. She had powder white skin, and she wore a black skirt, black long-sleeved shirt, a black cloak, and black combat boots.

"So," began the spiky haired man. "This is the city where I might find her? It doesn't look like much."

"So what were you expecting? It's a human city, of course, one of so many." She shrugged. "I guess it's as good as any."

"And you're sure this is the place? You've been wrong before, Lana."

The one called Lana shook her head. "I'm not wrong. I sense her presence here, somewhere, Evan."

Evan grimaced. "And, of course, you can't pinpoint it down any more than that. Just 'somewhere.' There's a lotta 'somewheres,' even in this mortal-sized city."

"Sorry, no. Finding her is, after all, your job." She quirked a smile. "I don't want to make it TOO easy for you."

"Remind me to return the favor sometime."

Lana snorted. "Like I have to."

"Well," said Evan, rubbing his hands together briskly, "I suppose we make that I had best get to work. The sooner we find her, the sooner everything will be resolved."

"IF you can persuade her to return with us to our world," said Lana. "That's no guarantee of that, you know."

Evan looked at the noisy, smelly city, disgust evident on his face. "Surely that won't be too difficult. I mean, look at this place. It's a cesspool."

"If all one remembers is a cesspool, than that cesspool is home. Remember, she may not remember anything of her old life, her REAL life, back home. Plus, she may have formed attachments, friendships here. That will complicate things somewhat."

"No it won't. All we have to do is get rid of her friends. Problem solved."

Now SHE looked at HIM in disgust. "Do you REALLY think that way? I can't think of a better way to drive her away from us than to do something like that. There's a human saying: 'you get more flies with honey than with vinegar'. Don't forget it."

"Well, even so, once she sees the importance"

"Importance, shm importance. We've no idea what we're going up against here; we'd best not take anything for granted. ESPECIALLY about her." She looked back over the city, its lights gleaming against the night. "She probably has no memories of her previous life. I hear she's been a stone statue for the last year or so; that could make finding her…complicated. No vital signs to zero in on. But we need to find out why she's a statue, and how that happened. It could be the key to getting her back."

They were silent for a moment. Then Evan said, "Do you suppose those annoying Teen Titans will interfere?"

Lana sighed. Then, "I can almost guarantee it." Then she straightened up. "Well, let's go see what we can see." And with that, the two of them vanished in a blur of motion.

To be continued…

Hey guys I hope you guys like my new story please leave a review.


	2. Chapter 2 Recalled to Life

Teen Titans: Terra: Recalled to Life

Was that a voice?

"You were the best friend I ever had."

How could it be? The dead don't hear voices.

"You were the best friend I ever had."

The dead don't see bright lights coming at them out of nowhere, either.

But it's happening!

Hm. Those bright lights I can't be seeing coming at me out of nowhere seem to be getting bigger and stronger…should I be worried? But why? What do the dead have to worry about, anyway?

Just before they hit, a thought crosses my dead brain: am I being recalled to life? If so, why?

And…just who the hell am I, anyway?

The blond picked herself up out of what looked like a small mountain of rocks and gravel. "Oooooh," she groaned. "Wha…what happened to me? Feel like I just got hit over the head with an active volcano…heh. Obviously, THAT'S not possible. Maybe I was in a car accident?

"Er…what's a car again, now?"

…

The blond stumbled out of the cave. On the way, she passed by a bronze plaque lying in the rubble. Picked it up.

It read, "Terra. A Teen Titan, and a True Friend." Where had it come from?

And who was Terra?

…

Titans' Tower: Beast Boy had been restless for days now. It was really getting on Raven's nerves. "If you don't quit pacing," she told him, a half-smile on her normally sober face, "I'll be forced to put a spell of enchanted sleep on you. Then you'll only be able to wake up when you feel True Love's First Kiss." The way she said it, he could hear the capital letters. Her smile, hidden behind her book, got even broader. "That should keep you out from underfoot forever." The two were alone in the Tower, the others having been called out on a peculiar case.

Beast Boy stopped pacing at once, but not out of fear. He turned to his comrade. "Was that supposed to be funny?"

Raven's head snapped up. She'd never heard Beast Boy, Garfield Logan, use THAT tone of voice, to ANYbody, let alone HER. "Are you saying," he continued, "that I'll never know this 'true love' you're talking about? Or are you saying it's a good way of getting rid of me once and for all? Or maybe both?" His glare actually made her look away.

She gathered herself, putting her book down, and looked at him. "It was a joke, Garfield. I-"

"That's BEAST BOY, to you. And I've heard better jokes." And with that, he stormed out of room, leaving a stunned Raven looking at the door he'd slammed on his way out. Had she just heard what she thought she'd heard? Garfield Logan, actually standing up to her? The only time something similar had happened was when he'd been briefly mutated into a superbeast by an accidental shower in some recombinant DNA. She hoped this wasn't like that…then again, maybe that was the wrong way to hope. If his attitude was the result of his internal emotions, conflicting feelings, the problem could be a whole lot more difficult to resolve.

She sighed. She'd played a part in this. Gar was her friend, and, now that her attention was called to it, she realized that what she'd said had crossed over the line. It was only right that she do what she could to fix the problem.

She got up, making sure to mark her place in her book, and followed his trail of emotions down to his room. She experienced a brief moment of fear-hesitation: she'd been just outside Garfield's room that terrible night when Adonis, also mutated into a superbeast, had emerged and attacked her. She was finding that she still had issues there.

She signaled for entrance. "Garfield? It's me. Let me in."

Silence.

"Come on, Garfield. You know we have to talk this out. I want to apologize."

After a long, long moment, when she was just about to turn and leave, the door swished open. She stepped in.

Beast Boy was sitting, cross-legged, on the floor, in a lotus position, obviously trying some of the meditation techniques she'd taught him. She'd never actually seen him do that before. Whatever he was going through must be bad. And she hadn't helped any. She got down on the floor by him, crossing her legs. He steadfastly ignored her, eyes closed. "Look, Gar, I…I'm sorry. I meant it as a joke, but, as you said, it was a pretty lame joke." She sighed, looking at the floor. "I can imagine how I'd feel if someone said that to ME. Never to have a true love, just sleep forever to be out of everybody's way. Yeah, that wasn't much joke. And…and I'm sorry, Gar. It was inexcusable of me."

He still didn't say anything. "I remember that awful time when Malchior betrayed me and hurt me so badly. You were there for me. And that business with Adonis…you fought for me, defended me. You saved my life, in spite of the fact that we'd just had a horrendous argument." She looked up at the ceiling. "And then, just now, I had to go and…say what I said. I'm sorry, Gar. I just didn't think before I spoke."

He sat silent for a long time. Then, "You saved my life from Lord Trogaar, when he first came to Earth, looking for Star. And numerous other times since then." His voice was calm and distant. Yeah, this was bad.

She hitched closer. "But I wasn't there for you when Terra…when what happened, happened. And I haven't been must use finding any counterspell. But I shouldn't have used that as an excuse to, to not be there for you. And, and…I'm afraid I did.

"I didn't know what to do, Garfield! I could literally feel your pain. It was like a sharp dagger digging into my mind. I could shut it out—that's all I know to do, with my own emotions-but in doing so, I shut YOU out, too." Now she looked at him, looking straight into his eyes, her purple orbs meeting his green ones. "Can you forgive me?"

He visibly melted, his expression becoming less severe. But no less hurt. "Of course, Raven. You know I'd forgive you of anything." And Raven, being Raven, could see what he thought but did not say: BIG SISTER.

"Thank you, Garfield." And Raven did something she'd only done once: she leaned against him and put her arms around him, laying her head on his shoulder. "Thank you for being there for me. And," and here a mischievous look crossed her face. He didn't see it in time, so wrapped up was he in the sensation of RAVEN actually HUGGING him. She quickly leaned over even further and planted a light kiss on his cheek. "And THAT'S for saving me from Adonis. It was long overdue." LITTLE BROTHER, she thought to herself.

He blushed. Truth was, he liked this new Raven, and found her attentions to him to be…rather nice. But it was probably all just guilt on her part. "Yeah, well, you'd'a done it for me."

"But you DID do it for ME. You saved my life. And…maybe more." And they both knew what she wasn't saying.

Back when they'd fought at the gene-splicing plant, Adonis had implied an attraction to Raven. In many such battles, that wasn't such an uncommon trope, particularly of those villains who were too full of themselves (which included about ninety-eight percent of the total). Of course, she'd simply faded out of his grip, standard tactic, and given it no more thought. But that night when Adonis came, looking for Beast Boy and finding her, he'd attacked her. Robin's fear had been that the Adonis-beast had actually been trying to rape Raven, when the Beast Boy beast intervened, saving her. That had answered the question of why Beast Boy had taken her from the relative safety of the Tower: he was trying to get her to medical help that the Tower might not be equipped for. On some primal level, he sensed this was no ordinary assault.

So one of the first things they'd done, as soon as they could, was to have Starfire check her for signs of penetration. There were none, thank Azar.

"Well, anyway," she said, her arms still around him, "I hereby swear to lay off such unfunny jokes. And no more name-calling, either. And…and I'll even promise not to morph you into a rat anymore."

"Whoa, now. You do all that, the others are gonna wanna know who you are and what you did with Raven. Maybe just…no more unfunny jokes?"

"Deal." She stuck out her hand, and he took it.

"Deal." He seemed a lot better. Raven didn't really know HOW to "be there" for others, except by the example Beast Boy had given. But if this was it, or the beginnings of it, it felt….kinda nice.

…

The blond wandered out into the desert. She instinctively avoided the cities, though she knew that, sooner or later, she'd have to go into one to resupply on some things. How would she get them? Well, she'd just have to figure out a way.

How had she done so in the past? She remembered bits and pieces of her life. Was she the "Terra" the plaque spoke of? A "Teen Titan and a True Friend"? Her? She couldn't remember any specifics.

Should she look up these "Teen Titans"? They might have some information on who she was, if she was the "Terra" the plaque spoke of. But something told her that might be a bad idea. But why couldn't she remember?

"Am I Terra? If so, who's Terra? WHO AM I?" And voices from the past answered her…

….bastard child of the king of Markovia…

…subject of an experiment into enhancement in humans…

…runaway…

…failed hero…

…former member of these "Teen Titans" (whoever they were)…

…traitoress…

"NO!" She sat down and held her head. "No! I'd, I'd never do that! I'd never be that!"

But you did and you were, answered the voices.

"No," she sobbed. "Never. I'd…I'd never…"

But you did and you were.

She had brought the bronze plaque with her, and now she drew it out and looked at it more carefully. Try as she might, she couldn't glean much information from it.

Drifting purely on instinct, she made her way to the desert where she'd originally encountered the Titans. Some things, some rock formations, rang a bell…but others filled her with a kind of nameless dread.

Oh, good. There was a handy cave over there…

She tripped over something, but caught herself without falling. Looking down, she saw a crystal made of some bluish white substance. It practically gleamed in the fading light.

She picked it up…and quickly put a finger in her mouth. The crystal was no ordinary crystal, it had somehow been forged into a blade, a knife, with an incredibly sharp edge. But who could have forged it so? It was a work of exquisite craftsmanship, whoever did it.

Turning the crystal knife over and over in her hands, she got the most peculiar sensation from it. This crystal knife hadn't been flaked or carved; it looked almost like it had been somehow cast, like an ice sculpture formed by pouring water into a form and freezing it. There were no markings on it…it was just pure sharp crystal shard of a kind she couldn't recognize.

"But then, I don't recognize ME, so that shouldn't be all that much of a shocker!" she told herself.

…

"I dunno, Raven. It just seems like…I can't get Terra off my mind." The two of them were still sitting, cross-legged, on the floor of Beast Boy's room. Raven's eyes tracked over the room, decorated with posters, comic books practically everywhere one looked, and the occasional souvenir. Over in one corner was an easel, set up, with some oil paints.

"Gar…have you taken up painting?" Raven would never have believed it of him. It just didn't seem like the sort of thing he'd do.

"Uh, yeah. I've tried my hand. So far, all I've managed to do is splash paint. Except for one thing."

"What's that?"

He got up. She levitated up and followed him over into the corner, where he had an old filing cabinet. He opened it and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. "Except for this. And, Raven, I swear to you, I did this in my sleep." And he unrolled the painting. "I woke up…and here it was."

Raven gasped. It was a perfect representation of Terra, nearly as clear as a photograph, as he'd last seen her, standing all alone in the ever-more active volcano, still wearing her Slade armor. Her hand was outstretched, and Raven knew she was levitating the rock Beast Boy was riding on back into the caverns, the passageways to the outside—and safety.

But there would be no safety for her. She had to stay, she'd said, and stop this. She was the only one who could.

The painting had managed to capture Terra's exact, sorrowful expression: GOODBYE, GAR.

YOU WERE THE BEST FRIEND I EVER HAD.

…

Out in the desert: the blond girl was sitting in the cave she'd found, looking steadfastly at a small campfire. The flickering flames mocked her.

I can't remember, she thought to herself. Or, rather, I can, but I can't be sure if what I'm remembering is true. All those things…

….bastard child of the king of Markovia…

…subject of an experiment into enhancement in humans…

…runaway…

…failed hero…

…former member of these "Teen Titans"…

…traitoress…

I couldn't have been all of them, could I?

Yes, replied the voices. You were.

She looked at the sharp crystal dagger in her hand. It was very sharp.

You should do this, whispered the voices. You know you should. It is only justice.

You do not deserve to live.

And she slowly placed the more-than-razor sharp edge of the dagger against the soft flesh on her left arm, just above the wrist…

Titans' Tower: Beast Boy suddenly sat bolt upright, eyes going wide, as if he'd been jolted with electricity. Raven looked at him in alarm. What was this? "Garfield?"

"She's in danger. I, I have to go…" And he morphed into a falcon and started for the window.

"Wait, Gar! I can get us there much faster!" He flew back to her, and sat on her shoulder, careful not to dig his claws into her. But even so, she could feel him vibrating like a tuning fork.

She summoned a teleportation field and they two of them faded from sight.

…

Terra placed the crystal knife against the soft flesh of her left arm. Just do it, said the voices. It will be over with quickly.

But I don't want to die!—she screamed, in her mind, also losing a physical scream of anger, fear, frustration, and a host of other emotions. She fell to her hands and knees, the crystal blade shattering, her power radiating out from her…

…

Raven and Beast Boy materialized in the cave where they'd built the small shrine to Terra. "No!" Beast Boy fell to the ground, looking at the rubble that had once been the love of his life. "No." This last more quietly. He began to cry.

Raven came up to him, kneeling beside him, putting her arm around him. Even without telepathy, she knew what he was thinking: Terra, the statue, had somehow been shattered, and this was all that was left of her. "Garfield. Look." She pointed to the rubble, the gravel that littered the floor of the cave. "There isn't enough here for it to be…her. All of her, anyway."

He sniffled, wiping his nose. "Y-yeah. You're, you're right, Rae. But…but I can smell her. She's alive. Where is she? WHERE IS SHE?"

"Calm down, Gar. We'll find her." She got on her communicator. Cyborg was on watch, and she quickly filled him in. "So you see, Victor, we've a bit of a situation here-*" But she got no further.

Without warning, a powerful seismic shockwave rocked the entire cavern. Raven immediately threw up a force-field around them, just in time to keep them from being crushed underneath tons of rock. "Come on, Gar!" And she summoned a teleport gate…

Miles away: the blond had finally spent her anguish. She just remained there, on her hands and knees, sobbing. Why? Why was this happening to her?

For once the voices were silent.

…

Back at Titans' Tower: Raven had summoned the others into an emergency meeting. "So you see," she said, "we may have a…situation here." The others nodded, solemn expressions on their faces. "From the evidence, it seems Terra is no longer in the cavern." She cast a glance at Garfield. His face was expressionless, focused on an inner something only he could see. He hadn't spoken a word since they'd returned. "I don't know how or why, but it seems she's been freed from her stone prison. That earthquake we felt was no natural earthquake."

"We have to find her," said Robin, tightly. "Uncontrolled, Terra's power can do untold damage. And she's always had control issues." He punched a button on the conference table and summoned a holographic map. "Here's the cave where she was. Cy, did you get anything like a reading on an epicenter for that quake?"

"No, Rob. And that's strange; I had sensors set up, ready for this sort of thing. But I didn't catch anything like an epicenter."

"And I can't sense Terra, either," Raven interjected, again casting a worried glance at Beast Boy. He hadn't moved. "For some reason, I can't get any sort of reading on her location, or the location of the quake, which, I presume, would have been hers."

"So we do it the old fashioned way: we go out and look." Robin gestured to Cyborg. "Cy, you and Star take the southern part. I'll cover the western area…Raven, you…" he stopped, looking at Beast Boy, "you and BB take the northern part. Especially cover that area where we first saw her. Okay? Okay. Titans, go!"

The group fanned out. Starfire and Cyborg heading south, Robin heading west…

…and Raven and a still-silent Beast Boy heading north.

…

"Gar? Gar. Talk to me." Raven was levitating them both on a night-black disk of pure magic. She wasn't totally comfortable with Garfield's silence, and thought this might be a good way of giving them some time to talk. She sensed he needed to.

Garfield's soul was a maelstrom of emotions. It wasn't just his confusion over whether or not Terra was alive. No, this went deeper. Much deeper. "Gar?" She was getting concerned.

She deliberately slowed the disk down and sat down upon it, cross-legged, the way she had in the Tower. She gestured for him to join her, and he did, but she sensed he still wasn't completely with her. It was like his body was on autopilot. "Gar? What's going on?" she asked softly. Whatever it was, it was something she couldn't seem to make sense of. This was too complex of a feeling for her to completely comprehend it.

"I…" he began, then stopped. "Raven, it's crazy. I think I'M crazy."

"You're not crazy, Gar. Just tell me what you're feeling."

…

Miles away: the blond had managed to regain control of herself. The voices were silent. She sniffled, wiping her eyes and nose on the back of her hands. She'd always heard that crazy people heard voices. Did this mean she was crazy, then? It must.

She didn't know what to do. In the past, she could sense, she'd always run from her problems. But how far and how fast do you have to run to get away from yourself?

…

But Beast Boy wasn't the only one who senses were on high alert. High atop a skyscraper in Jump City, two very unique individuals were gazing out towards the desert. "Do you feel her?"

"Yes. I also feel her anguish. We haven't much time."

Evan turned to her. "We've had thousands of years. Why the rush all of a sudden?"

"Because right now she's part human. Humans are vulnerable to HIS influence, you know.

"And we're not the only ones hunting her." And her head tracked towards the north. "Some others are looking for her. One, I sense, could easily be trouble. Serious trouble."

…

During his outing, Robin had swung by the cavern where Terra's statue had been. It wasn't that he doubted Raven's report, but a good detective always checks his facts.

Fact: the statue that used to be Terra was in pieces, rubble. Fact: there wasn't enough of it to account for the totality of Terra's mass. She hadn't been that big a person, but still, there simply wasn't enough mass here. Which meant a sizable chunk of matter was missing. Either it disappeared into another dimension…or it walked out under its own power.

Of the two, the latter was the most probable.

…

"It's more than just…her being in danger. It's something like…more than just a physical danger. Like her soul is in danger. But how could that be?" He turned wide, uncomprehending eyes upon her. "I mean, no matter what, there's no way I should be able to sense something like that, should I?"

But Raven was shaking her head. "Gar…when two people are…close enough, and when the danger is great enough, anything is possible. And you and Terra were fairly close, at least as two people go who weren't…well. But you have to consider: what you're feeling may not be the truth, you know…just a feeling that she's in danger doesn't mean she's in quite the danger you're afraid she's in. After all," she said with a sigh, "Let's face it: just about the entire time we knew her, Terra was in danger from some source or another. So your feeling she is could easily have some merit even though it's just a feeling." she shrugged. "It would be understandable for you to feel that way. But I admit, all things considered, the fact that we can't find her, or any trace of her, does indicate something's going on. Just what, I don't know."

The desert: the blond had finally succumbed to sleep. She'd been exhausted, feeling drained. Food was a problem; she knew she'd have to do something about that before long. There were certain plants in the desert that were edible, but they were not in great abundance, and right then, she was very hungry. So she'd probably have to go into town, find a way of getting something.

There were dumpsters, but some dimly-remembered experience also told her there were other ways, too. Hard to put a bar-code on an orange.

She dreamed…

It seemed like she could see over a wide range of the desert, almost like she could see from the air. But with a shock, she realized, in her dream, that she wasn't seeing from the air so much as she was seeing from the ground. Like she was UNDER THE GROUND SEEING UP.

The strangeness of it caused her to wake up, gasping. Now, that was just freaky. Seeing up, from under the ground? How much sense did that make? She didn't have X-ray vision.

Speaking of, she suddenly became aware of something probing, looking around. The idea of something looking for her caused her to look, to sharpen her senses. With another shock, she realized that she could see…a whole lot more than she had been seeing.

It was like she could see from the Earth's viewpoint. Not from orbit, but as if every rock, every spot of ground, was a spy-cam, that she could see through. And with those numberless spy-cams, she saw something that definitely caused her alarm.

She saw Superman, flying over the desert, his head turning one way, then another. She saw Zatanna, seated cross-legged on a plateau not far from where she was, her hands held out in front of her, molding a ball of energy in which images appeared, images of the desert all around her. Dr. Fate, floating over the landscape, his helmeted head turning one way and another. The Batplane, soaring high in the air….it seemed like every member of the Justice League had been called out. But who could they be looking for? Had to be an Omega-level threat, to be this many of them. Darkseid, maybe? But since when did Darkseid hide, anyway? Mordru? But, likewise….

With a shock, it came to her: THEY WERE LOOKING FOR HER.

…

"Guys, I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" Robin's voice came over the communicator.

Beast Boy sighed. "Let's have the good news first."

"Okay. We…have some help in locating Terra."

"You don't say that like it's particularly good news."

"In a way, it's not. Seems that earthquake reached all the way to Gotham City. So the Justice League is out here looking for Terra, too."

The Titans had assembled by a stone mesa. Now they looked at each other in alarm. They knew Terra, but to the Justice League, she was just another enhanced being, possibly an evil one. Especially if she'd caused an earthquake.

"We have to find her before they do," said Beast Boy. "There's no telling what they'll do to her!"

Robin looked at Raven, who looked back. Actually, there was EVERY telling what they'd do. Neuro suit to keep her powers in check, then a lifetime sentence in Arkham. It was the only way to treat someone whose powers were out of control.

That's assuming she allowed them to take her alive.

…

"I can't let the Justice League find me!" Terra thought frantically to herself. She was very careful to move as silently as possible; Superman's super hearing could detect a gnat's wing from miles away. But how to dodge his X-ray vision?

Lead. Lead had to be the answer. But if she brought up enough lead to shield her, the seismic rumbling would be a dead giveaway…

Wait. Gold was a good radiation blocker, just as good as lead. And it was yellow. That would also block Green Lantern's power ring. But how to do it?

She could sense some small masses of gold down deep in the ground. But the "gold rush" had pretty well depleted it…

…and that's when she noticed several nearby rocks turning yellow…

"No freakin' way," she whispered to herself. She'd tried creating crystal, but that was just rearranging elements. It was silica, lead oxide, potash, etc. All elements found in nature.

But gold was an element all by itself. You couldn't just create gold from, from ordinary rocks.

On the other hand, had she ever tried?

Cautiously, she wrapped the gold around herself, and very slowly, sank into the Earth.

…

"She calls herself Terra. She's an earthmover, a geomancer. Former member of the Teen Titans, former apprentice to Slade Wilson. Rumor has it she killed him." Batman was, as always, terse and to the point."

Superman grunted. "She deserves a medal, then. You're convinced she was behind that earthquake?"

"Yes. There were no fault lines in that area. No warnings. Nothing."

"You talked to the Titans?"

"Yes. Robin told me nothing, which, in itself, tells me everything. This is gonna be a race."

"But why would she cause an earthquake? And how did she get out of that stone prison?" Zatanna paused a moment from casting her location spell.

"She has no control over her powers. I've traced her path across the country. Almost every place she's been, there's been earthquakes of one magnitude or another. That's not coincidence.

"As to how she got out, your guess is as good as mine."

"So what do we do when we find her?" asked Superman.

"Our orders are simple," interjected J'onn J'onzz, over the communication lines. "If we can't subdue her…"

"No," said the Man of Steel, resolutely. "I won't be party to killing some teenage girl just because she's got a problem with her powers. Most of us have had such problems at one time or another. There's got to be another way. There always is."

"Nobody's suggesting killing her. We're not assassins. But we'd have to subdue her somehow, maybe get a control collar on her. That would neutralize her powers, and she could stand trial."

"TRIAL? For WHAT? SHE'S A TEENAGE GIRL!" Superman was aghast.

"For being a party to the attempted takeover of Jump City. That IS a crime, Clark."

"But she saved it!"

"I'm sure that'll count in her favor. But she has to stand trial, if only to be exonerated."

"I hate to agree with him," said Wonder Woman, from her invisible jet, high over the desert, "but he's got a point. If we just give her a pass, then every supervillain that comes along will be able to say, 'oh, I just lost control of my powers. No big; I'll do better next time.'"

"That's still sounds a bit harsh."

"It has to be this way, Kal-El. We don't MAKE the law, we uphold it, whether we like it or not; it's right there in our name. Besides, I understand the King of Markovia has his agents out looking for her. It's better we find her than he does."

Still Superman grumbled. "We could teach her, train her. I could take her to some deserted planet, where she could practice…"

"We'll see," said Batman, more to pacify Superman than to agree with him, "but first, we have to get past the legal matters. Then we can talk about alternatives."

"Something else," said Hawkman, "we'll also have to put a guard around her, probably some of us, control collar or no. If the Markovian King has his sights on her, you know he's got some black ops teams out looking for her. Put her in any sort of prison, asylum, hospital, what have you, you may as well advertise where she is."

"Agreed," said J'onn J'onzz, "we'd already discussed that. And I believe we have a perfect solution. IF we can just find and subdue her. Zatanna? You said you had a signal?"

"A kind of numbness would be a better way of describing it. But it's gone now."

"Where was it coming from?"

"The west. I couldn't pinpoint it any better than that."

"Then we'll focus our efforts on that area."

…

"I believe that's the last of them," said Lana, wiping her tri-bladed knife on the mask of the recently deceased Markovian agent. The commandos had been superbly armed and trained, but that hadn't helped them one bit. She looked skyward, where the vultures were already gathering. "We'll let the local organic disposal team do their duty." She turned to Evan. "Any sign of her?"

"Nothing" said the werewolf. "And I can't figure that out. I should be able to track her scent, no matter what. The only reason that shouldn't be…" he looked at her in alarm, "would be if she's….changed, biologically, somehow.

"If so, then that makes it all the more important that we find her. Biological changes in humans often brings out the worst. If that's true of her…I don't even like to contemplate what might happen. The earthquake the other day could be as a walk in the park." He sighed. "I only hope the Earth would survive."

"That makes one of us," growled the fallen angel.

To be continued...

hey guys sorry this took me so long to finish I hope you guys like it.


	3. Chapter 3 Flight

Teen Titans: The Goddess Reborn: Chapter 3

I don't own the Teen Titans or the Justice League

Chapter 3: Flight

It was raining that night, the night that Terra walked the streets of Gotham City. She avoided shadowed areas, well knowing the reputation of the place. Most people didn't bother to look at her; she'd finally managed to get out of Slade's neuro suit, and found some old clothes that (mostly) fit in a nearby dumpster. They consisted of a pair of simple black sweatpants, a long-sleeve gray shirt, an old hooded jacket, black fingerless gloves, and black shoes. The shoes didn't fit well, and her feet were cramping.

She fit in nicely with the crowd she was moving with.

Rainy night. She kept walking. There really wasn't anything else to do. Her stomach rumbled. She considered turning herself over the Justice League; at least they'd feed her. But something told her that was a bad idea.

About then, she saw the sign: HELP WANTED. It was a crudely drawn, hand-lettered sign in front of an antique shop. Well, why not?-she thought to herself, opening the door. "Uhm. Erm." She cleared her throat, looking for some sign of life.

A large woman in the back poked her head up over the counter. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Erm. I, uh, saw your sign out front. Is…is that job still open?"

"Yes, it is. Do you want it?" The woman noticed that the slim blonde needed a bath. Homeless? Quite possibly.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, yes, I do. I, I really don't care what it pays."

The woman looked longer at the blonde. Yeah, she really needed that job. "Okay, it's yours. You'll be stocking in the back room. You said you don't care what it pays; that's good, 'cause it doesn't pay much. But," another long look, "I got a spare room upstairs. I'll be honest with you: it's a rathole. But you can stay there if you like."

The blonde gulped. She had to squeeze her eyes to keep from crying. Finally, she'd caught a break. "Yeah, I'll, I'll take it. It, it doesn't matter what it looks like."

"And what's your name?"

"Terra."

"Tara?"

"No, just Terra."

"You mean, Terra, as in 'Terra Firma'?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Huh. Well, I have to confess that's a first for me. Never heard of anyone named that. That's…unusual. You from around here?"

"Uh, not really."

The large woman—whose name was Melanie—hadn't exaggerated one bit about the room. It was a pesthole. Except the pests were more of the insectile variety than the rodent type. The place was cockroach heaven.

And the toilet didn't work.

The shower barely worked, producing a stream of ice-cold water that half-trickled, half-ran, out of the spout. After all she'd been through, however, the blond barely noticed it.

Now for the toilet.

The problem was revealed to be fairly simple, just a broken chain. A pretty easy fix. However, at that exact moment, it was a fix that was beyond her, financially. She looked around, seeing if there was anything she could tie it up with. It would be temporary, but perhaps it would last long enough…

Wait. She did a double take. The chain was whole.

Okay, that was a little weird. She was sure it had been broken. True, the light in the small bathroom was very dim, coming more from the outside through a small window than from the bulb overhead, but still. How did she see broken chain when the chain wasn't broken?

Maybe she'd had such bad luck lately that she was expecting it. Or maybe she was just hungry. She knew she had certain powers over the Earth and rock, but toilet chains? Uh…probably not.

But for now, she was so exhausted from her day, using her powers like that, that she fell asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.

…

It had been a couple of weeks. Robin was on monitor duty when they got a call on the secure wavelength the Justice League used to communicate with them. The image of Batman formed on the screen. "Robin." The Dark Knight inclined his head. That was the most greeting he ever gave.

"Sir. Something tells me this is about Terra? Have you found her?"

"No. But what we have found is disturbing." Robin waited. He'd long since learned that Batman spoke at his own pace. Asking him questions was usual futile. He imparted what information he imparted on his own schedule. "It seems the king of Markovia has an interest in your errant teammate. An unhealthy one."

"Terra is supposed to be his illegitimate daughter. He's certainly waited long enough."

"He certainly has. I'm sure her emerging powers have more to do with his interest than any late-blooming paternal feelings. But there are indications that she may have made an appearance here, in Gotham City."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Gotham City? Your home turf. Do you think Terra is aware of the Markovian king's interest?"

"Uncertain. However, you should know we did find the bodies of several black ops agents."

"Bodies?"

"Bodies. Extremely dead ones. And no identification. However, I don't think Terra was directly involved with that. The MO didn't seem to fit."

"What was the MO?"

"Blades and teeth."

"You're right. Doesn't sound like something Terra would do. So….we're looking at a third party, then. One willing to kill to achieve its goals. This just keeps getting better and better."

"If she bears any responsibility, I'll have to treat her as I would any killer." (Typical Batman, thought Robin: he has to handle this on his own.) "So if Terra's directly involved…" He let the sentence hang, but Robin could read the rest: I'll have to put her down.

Hard.

After the connection was broken, Starfire, who'd been present during the conversation, came up to him. "Robin, do you believe friend Terra is behind these killings?"

"If you'd asked me that when we first met her, I'd have said no. But remember, she had that training under Slade. I'm sure he taught her how to kill; I don't like to think about how he taught her, but I'm sure he did. She certainly tried to kill us. I, personally, believe that it was only her own internal set of morals that held her back, kept her from using lethal force. I'm sure he wanted her to.

"But as I told Batman, it doesn't sound like her, like the way she'd kill someone, if she were going to. You remember, with us, she used her elemental powers. So, if she'd just pulled a gun on, say, Beast Boy, that would have been out of character for her. No, I think this is someone else. One black ops team taking out another black ops team.

"So…Even though there's no proof, I'd say the 'knives and teeth' group are NOT the Markovian group. Governments typically employ standard humans, though I suppose it's not beyond possibility that some could have covert teams of enhanced entities, it isn't supposed to be that way. You remember the addendum to the War Powers Act: enhanced power beings are not supposed to be affiliated with any government.

"But…that only applies to those who actually signed the Accords. And I checked, and Markovia didn't. So…" He fell silent. "I can understand why the king of Markovia wants Terra. Same reason Slade did." The two of them fell silent at that, remembering how close Terra had come to killing them all. And her powers were still developing… "We need to find her before either the Justice League or the others do."

They left the room and moved down the hallway. "I feel the much sorrow for her," sighed Starfire. "Everyone wants to use her as a weapon. Even as they did me."

He looked at her in surprise. "Star? What do you mean?"

She wouldn't meet his gaze. "I was trained by the Warlords of Okaara. It was expected of me, that when my training was complete, that I would be a soldier in the ranks of Tameran. We were to be frontline troops, in our war with the Citadel. In a way, much like I am now." She grimaced, remembering, arms across her chest, as though to block out the memory. "Only far less the voluntary."

"You…told me about being trained. But I always thought that was to, to help you reach your potential."

"It was. But there was a reason for it."

He thought about that. He'd never realized what a grim life she must have led before coming to Earth. Starfire had never expressed much desire to return to her world. He knew there was some sort of treaty involved with that…that she was not allowed to return due to certain parts of said treaty. But he'd never really understood why she'd never even expressed a desire to visit, to work around loopholes in the treaty. He was confident he could have found some.

But she'd never asked. Now he knew why. She didn't have any family back on Tameran. The closest she had…

…was a sister who'd sold her into slavery to their enemies. He wouldn't have wanted to return to that, either.

She'd once mentioned a brother whom she was close. But he'd disappeared years ago, and she had no idea where he was. He shook his head. She'd never asked for his help, so…

He refocused back on the current problem. Starfire knew she had but to ask, and he'd break the laws of physics, if he had to, to help her. "But, Starfire…something's not right."

"What do you mean?"

"Something about this whole thing. I could see a government sending out black ops personnel to retrieve her. But this other group…something about it just plain smells."

She sniffed. "I smell nothing. Except your cologne."

"I'm not wearing cologne," he said, absently. "It's a figure of speech. It seems like the workings of some other group, but who?"

"Perhaps the Brotherhood which is Evil? Or the HIVE?"

Again he shook his head. "Technically, yeah, it sounds like it could be their MO. But they don't usually kill. Of course, they've never gone up against people who did, and I'm pretty sure black ops types AREN'T armed with stun guns. So maybe they had no choice…but I don't believe it."

"Do you believe Terra has done this?"

"No. Oh, she could, using her elemental powers. She COULD, conceivably, have formed knives from, say, crystal—and by the way, Batman did mention the shattered remains of a crystal knife they'd found in the area—and I suppose she could have created an animal surrogate, from, say, rock, that could make it seem like an animal had killed the agents, but…it would be a stretch. Thing is, I don't believe Terra would kill. Not at this point. Unless…"

"'Unless'?"

"Unless…she's no longer sane."

The two of them looked at each other in silence.

…

Raven was still trying to pick up the pieces of Beast Boy's mind. It wasn't an easy job.

He hadn't said a word since they'd come back from patrol. His last words to her were to her expressed his fear that Terra's soul was in danger. Raven knew, from her own experience, that could be a real possibility.

She'd never really given any thought to the mechanism by which Terra's powers worked. In a world full of enhanced beings, she had, she was honest with herself enough to say, simply assumed that they were purely physical. Out of the ordinary, true, but physical, much the same way that, say, Superman's powers were. He came from a different environment, where different laws of physics were involved. So did J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Different environment, different physical abilities. Terra's had been given to her (she'd always assumed, and comments from Terra herself had led them all to believe) by Markovian scientists, the same ones who'd given her half-brother, Brion, aka Geo-Force, his powers. An experiment in genetic alteration. She'd always thought it rather cold of her father, King Viktor, to allow his geneticists to experiment on his own children, but then, she was no stranger to uncaring fathers, herself.

But Beast Boy's suspicion (or intuition?) had seriously eroded his grip. He was certain that the girl he'd loved was in danger of losing more than her life. That would trouble anyone. "C'mon, Gar. We don't have any proof that she's even in danger. I understand you're concerned about her; considering how deeply you feel about her, that's understandable. I won't say she's NOT in danger. But her SOUL in danger? You're 'feeling' could easily be completely false."

He said nothing for a long time, and she thought he wasn't going to reply at all. Then, "I'm not wrong, Raven. I know how it sounds. But I'm not wrong. Something is bad wrong with Terra, and I can't get you to believe it. You," he looked up at her from where he was sitting on the floor of his room, "of all people, ought to know about that."

Raven had to admit he was right. She of all people ought to know about someone's whole being, all that they were, being taken in some sort of weird enchantment. That was what had almost happened to her. "Then," she said, softly, "I'll go with that." And she rose up. "I'm going to devise a 'finder' spell specifically for her, Gar. Wherever she is, I'll find her."

…

At that moment, Terra was just settling down to sleep. It had been a hard day for her; Melanie hadn't exaggerated about the work. Stocking in the back room required all the strength she could manage.

She tossed and turned. She couldn't get to sleep. Her mind was racing in a thousand different directions. The image of a green boy kept coming up in her imagination. Yeah, Terra, she told herself, a green boy. That's new. And…you're thinking of him NOW? Why do you suppose that is?

I don't know, she told herself. I just don't know.

….you're the best friend I ever had… Where had those words come from?

I could use a friend right now, she thought to herself. A good friend. Melanie has been nice to me, but…it's not the same.

She got up, got dressed, and slipped out of the building. She wasn't really sure where she was heading. Oh, right. She could use some things from the store. And payday had been yesterday, so she had some cash. Briefly, she wondered if she could open an account with a local bank, but how? She had no ID, no Social Security card…nothing. No, she couldn't open an account with a bank.

So…now what?

On she walked. The wind whistled around the corners of the buildings. She'd never realized just how DARK Gotham city got. Even the streetlights couldn't seem to dispel the choking darkness.

"Hey, cutie!" There were some boys on motorcycles lounging around in one of the larger alleyways. "You lost or something?" He leered. His buddies laughed. "Go on, Jeff!" smirked one. "She looks like she could use a date!" One she hadn't seen grabbed her from behind. "Yeah, definitely some prime date material!"

"Let me go!" But of course, that only made them laugh.

Something in her snapped. You wanna laugh?—she thought. Okay, laugh at THIS. And Terra summoned her power.

The alleyway became a whirlwind of rocks, dust, and gravel. The gangers yelled when the dust got into their eyes, and yelled louder when the rocks and gravel ripped into them. All through it, Terra stood at the center of the vortex, calmly, her hands out to either side, face raised to the uncaring night sky. It was like she was in another world…she was the Earth and the Earth was her…

She couldn't tell how long it had been, but something brought her back to reality. The bikers lay in crumpled heaps, strewn from one end of the alley to another. Many were covered in blood, and a couple—including the one who'd grabbed her—had a lot of their skin removed, literally sandblasted away, leaving them looking like something out of a slaughterhouse. Oh, god in heaven, thought Terra. What have I done?

Had it been her? She couldn't remember anything after the ganger had grabbed her…but she must have done this. I've killed people, she thought. Then her eyes widened as something occurred to her: this was Gotham City, Batman's territory. If this didn't get his attention, nothing would.

She probably had a better chance of eluding Superman's X-ray vision, or Zatanna's magic, than she did Batman. Running, she knew, was pointless, but it was all she knew to do.

She ran. She ran completely unaware of a pair of eyes watching her from the rooftop of a nearby warehouse.

…

Back at Titans' Tower: Raven had drawn her magic circle and was commencing her chant. She'd devised a finder spell specifically for Terra, but it was based on what they knew of her. She hadn't told Beast Boy, but if Terra had…changed, in some fundamental way, the spell would be no good. Like calling a disconnected phone number.

The smoke from the incense filled the room, assisting her in focusing her mind. Terra, where are you?—she thought to herself, all the while not allowing her inner conversation to affect her outward activity. She'd long ago learned to disconnect her innermost thoughts from her spell-binding. It was a survival characteristic most of the better sorcerers had.

The smoke from the censer floated around her. One tendril seemed to hesitate, then pointed to the east. The idea came into her mind, Gotham City. But where in Gotham City?

The smoke curled, forming shapes and outlines.

She focused the spell, striving for more accuracy. But her spell seemed to be blocked by some powerful force. But what could it be?

Again, she refocused the spell, striving to clear away distractions in her mind. And then she saw it: a small, shabby building in the slums of Gotham. Not far from Arkham Asylum. Not far enough, she thought. It was their biggest fear—hers and Beast Boy's—that Terra would end up in Arkham, with a control collar on her, in amongst the absolute worst thugs anyone could imagine. Without her powers, the only way she'd survive there would be…but Raven didn't want to think about that.

But if she was in Arkham, they'd have to break her out. There was simply no choice in the matter. Well, thought Raven, it won't be the first time we've bent the rules a bit. Terra, in spite of her crimes, was one of their own, and the Titans took care of their own.

But Terra didn't seem to be in Arkham, actually, which caused Raven to let out an involuntary sigh of relief, a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. No, the place where she was living was… She picked up her communicator

"Gar? I've got a lead. But we need to hurry; it looks like, from the way my spell was acting, that we may not be the only ones after her."

…

"So what have you got?" asked Evan. Lana had been sitting cross-legged now for the better part of the day, and he was getting impatient. Patience had never been a strong suit for him, anyway.

"I can barely see her…Gotham City, a small, unkempt building, right there in the midst of those ridiculous humans'—Ow!" She recoiled suddenly, almost falling backward. He caught her.

"What was that? I've never seen you react that way, before!"

"Neither have I," responded a shaky Lana. "Something…something powerful interfered with my spell. Never…never felt anything quite like it before." She drew in a ragged breath, and turned to him, wide eyed. "Evan, we have to find her. HE'S looking for her. That's what I sensed: something powerful, ancient, and evil!"

"Great," said Evan, sarcastically. "As if we don't have enough to worry about. Justice League, Teen Titans, and Markovian troops. What's one more thing in the mix?"

"You know HIM. This wouldn't be the first time he's shaken the planet to its very core," said a grim Lana. "Again." She glanced up at the moon. "Come on. We'd best get started. Gotham's a ways off."

…

Terra retired to her room, exhausted. Melanie sure hadn't been kidding about the work.

Of course, she could have used her elemental powers to assist her, but something told her that was a bad idea. She was trying to keep out of sight of both the Justice League and Batman…what happened the other night was almost sure to attract his attention. A stocker with elemental, earth-moving powers…she may as well send up a signal flare.

She could hide from Superman's X-ray vision, and, here in Gotham, she was just another in a teeming throng. He might, conceivably, pass her by (though she couldn't really bring herself to completely believe that). But Batman? Never, but never, underestimate Batman.

In fact, she thought, and this did nothing for her ability (or lack thereof) to sleep: he probably already had found her, and was just biding his time. But for what? She wondered why he hadn't already apprehended her, turned her over to the League.

On an instinctive level, she knew that more than the League was hunting for her. She couldn't have said how she knew, but she knew. She didn't know who, or why, but she never questioned, in her mind, that there were OTHERS out there, searching for her. And not the Titans or Batman, either. Somebody a good deal more dangerous, at least to her.

She was beginning to remember more and more about her time with them, and very little of it was good.

But one thing that WAS good was her faint memories of the green boy. She knew, on that instinctive level, that if she could just get to him, and him alone, that he'd help her. But every time she thought of him, another memory surfaced: a dark girl in a blue hooded cloak. Terra knew she was the LAST person she needed to see. It would be better, she knew, if she just surrendered to the League than go to that person, whoever she was. And she knew she was with him. Always.

In fact, she shuddered, if the dark girl did find her, she could easily be the last thing Terra did see.

She groaned, turning and twisting in bed. The memories—and the voices-were coming back; she wished they hadn't. Had she done all THAT many things wrong? But these feelings of guilt just wouldn't go away. She turned over on her face, and wrapped a pillow over her head from behind. "Come ON," she muttered at the memories. "Go AWAY. Surely, I couldn't have been THAT bad!" But…

…she couldn't help but feel she had been. Bad enough that the girl in blue would want to kill her.

You were bad, said the voice in her head. You were very bad. You mistreated people who were kind to you…

"GO AWAY!"

You know it is the truth.

"I don't know any such thing!"

Yes, you do. That is why you don't want to go the Titans. The dark girl would kill you because you were bad. You hurt her friend. You were bad.

"I didn't!"

Yes, you did. You remember enough to know that.

You should have used the knife.

"No!"

Yes. You are bad. Very bad.

Terra scrunched the pillow around her head even tighter, but the voice-that-was-not-a-voice could not be silenced.

…

It was night time when Lana and Evan arrived at Gotham City. The first place they checked was Arkham Asylum. After all, it was possible that Terra had already been caught, and that would be the logical choice for whoever caught her—presumably the Justice League—to put her. "I doubt there would even have been a trial," said Lana. "Just stick her in there and forget about her."

"Would they really do that?" wondered Evan. "No trial? Just boom, here's your new 'no key' apartment, miss?"

Lana shook her head. "Humans haven't changed a whole lot since I was here last," referring to the incident that had resulted in her fall from Ultimate Grace. "They still treat people who are different like a sack of dog feces. And that feeling leads to just that sort of action. No, they'd probably figure it was for the 'greater good,'" and here she made air quotes with her fingers, "get the freak out of sight and mind ASAP. The more time she spends on the outside, the more chance there is for something to go pear-shaped. It hasn't been all that long since the days of the witchcraft trials. Then you have the McCarthy era; that was actually called a 'witch hunt.' The same dynamics apply. If you fear something, you don't try to understand it, you just either lock it away or you kill it. Or you find a scapegoat to explain your problems away. Same difference." She shrugged, her slim shoulders lifting underneath her heavy full-length black cloak. "Humans are so stupid. Sometimes I wonder if they ever actually evolved all that much since the trees.

"The rest of the time, I don't wonder. I know they haven't."

"Now, Lana. Keep it down. No point in airing your political views, not here and now. Besides, we're here to protect those same humans, ultimately."

"YOU are," she corrected. "Me, I'd just as soon-"

"CAN it, Lana!" He glanced up nervously. "You know it's a bad idea to say things like in public. Wait 'till we're back at the Citadel. It's altogether too easy to attract HIS attention. That was what got you in such serious trouble last time."

She grunted. "Oh, alright." She shifted her stance, propping one foot on the railing. Shielded by their respective cloaking spells, the two were on the roof of one of Luthorcorp' tallest skyscrapers. Even Lana had to admit, the view was spectacular. "How can it look like a glorified garbage dump at street level but look so magnificent from up here?"

"Oh?" he grinned, "So you DO think the humans can do SOME things well, eh?"

Again a grunt, this time combined with a sniff of disgust. "I never said they don't do ANYthing right.

"The plagues were outstanding work."

…

In a darkened cave, underneath Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, sat before his monitors, elbows propped on the control panel, careful, as always, to keep from accidently hitting any of the controls. He had a lot to think about.

He'd found the Markov girl less than three hours after she entered the city. He'd been on the lookout for her ever since the Justice League had received word that she was no longer in the cavern where her petrified self had been. Somehow, he had suspected, even then, that she'd gravitate to Gotham. It seemed like every super powered villain did, sooner or later. And there was little doubt, in his mind, that she constituted a threat, though he hadn't actually put the word "villain" to her just yet. That was the only reason she was still free.

He'd been working on ways to stop her, nullify her powers, without killing her. At this point, he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt: young people make mistakes, and it was possible she was one of those young people. Add super powers into the mixture, and you had a recipe for disaster.

And, in spite of her evident power, she had not caused any major disasters. Instead, there had been a string of small earthquakes, usually accompanied by petty thefts of shoplifting, usually of food items, with some clothing mixed in. No banks, no liquor stores, no pharmacies…none of the usual places that someone of villainous intent usually hit. And the earthquakes themselves, aside from these last two, had all been small and localized. That, to him, indicated that she was not motivated by evil impulses. Even someone with no powers can, if they set their minds to it, cause untold trouble if they really want to. So, he was leaning towards the "non-villain" mindset.

But that didn't change the fact that she had caused damage, and even some fatalities. He knew about what had happened to the gangers in the alley; in fact, he'd known about it almost as soon as it happened. He hadn't really been too surprised, or even dismayed by it; people like that tended to live short lives, with a violent end in their near future. In the end, he'd have had to take them down, himself. Terra had just beat him to the punch.

But that didn't change the fact that she had killed, and in his city. If her powers were that much out of control…

…he couldn't afford to wait that much longer.

…

Terra practically scampered back to her small third-story apartment. Closed and locked the door behind her. "Wayta Go, girl," she told herself, leaning up against the door, trying to catch her breath. "Get accosted by a street gang, and kill 'em. And in Gotham City, yet. Why don't you just go light up the Bat Signal? It wouldn't be much more obvious." Nervously, she crossed over to the window and looked out, as though expecting to find the Dark Knight hovering right outside it.

He wasn't there, but what she did see disturbed even more: down in the alleyway behind the building were two shadowed forms, gazing up intently at her window.

…

"Aw, man," muttered Cyborg, "C'mon. This can't be real. Are you sure Terra did this?" The Titans had convened at the alley where Terra's assailants had met their fate. The police had cordoned it off, and were allowing nobody but law enforcement agents in.

They'd received a call from Batman less than an hour ago. He'd directed them to the spot, and told them what they could expect to find. Batman himself was nowhere to be seen; no-one was surprised by that. Aside from Commissioner Gordon, Batman didn't really get along all that well with the authorities. "You sure TERRA did this?"

"Batman is," said Robin. "And, look at the place. Torn up, rocks ripped from the ground, gouges in the walls all around. If it WASN'T Terra, it's somebody who has similar powers, and I don't know of anyone like that. Raven?"

Raven was in a standing trance, trying to reach out into the etheric void, to "read" the past from the rocks and earth around her. "I'm…sensing a presence, but I can't say it's Terra for sure. If it is her, her aura has changed. But we aren't the first ones here."

"Batman was probably-*"

"Not Batman. I'm sensing two nonhuman life-forms. They passed through this area less than an hour ago."

"Nonhuman life forms? Could they have done this?"

"Doubtful. You remember the MO from that other site. Teeth and blades." She gestured around her. "You're the detective. Do you see any sign of either here?" He shook his head without replying. "And I doubt any of the Markovian special ops teams have been this way. If so, I'm pretty sure they'd have got what they came for.

"Terra."

"Of course." Robin nodded. "If I were any hypothetical black ops group leader, I'd certainly be a bit stealthier than this. These dangers would be shot, not...this. And the black ops would already have Terra: a tranq dart shot from a distance. No, this was definitely done by someone with earth-moving powers, and, also by someone without much control over those same powers. That spells 'Terra' in big screaming letters. Commissioner?" Gordon turned to them, from where he'd been conversing with the precinct captain. The Titans had kept their voices down. Cyborg wondered where the Justice League was. "Did you uncover anything other than this?"

Gordon shook his head. "Negative. What you see if pretty much all we've got. Oh, we've got some names on the victims, but that's not very helpful. This looks to be a one-time occurrence, not an ongoing killing spree. At least," he muttered to himself, "not yet."

Robin spoke up. "Any indication of any suspicious characters in this area?"

Again a shake of the head. "Robin, in the part of town, EVERYbody's a suspicious character. The only reason we-*" meaning he and Batman—"thought to call you at all was the MO. Street gangs go at it all the time here, and deaths aren't that uncommon. But death by rock whirlwind…well, that's a little different." He lowered his voice. Cyborg and Beast Boy, along with Starfire, were still a bit shellshocked over the scene of devastation. "You think it might have something to do with your truant member?"

"It's possible," said Robin guardedly. The last thing Terra needed right now was an APB put out on her as a killer. An out of control enhanced being…that would give the officers all the excuse they needed to shoot to kill. "I have to get with my…sources on this one." Meaning Batman. No doubt Robin's mentor had already conducted a full forensic sweep of the area, and had probably gathered more information than the locals. He turned to lead the team away. "There are other beings who could have done this." But he had to admit, this MO smacked of Terra.

Another factor in this was that the Justice League had not arrived. Robin had a hunch Batman was responsible for this. Superman or J'onn J'onzz, or, for that matter, Zatanna or Green Lantern, would have no trouble tracing any individual leaving the site of the massacre, and, from the way things were shaping up, that would be only one person. This was Batman's way of giving the Titans a head start finding Terra before the League did, and Robin appreciated it. It was pretty much a lead-pipe cinch that, should the League capture her, it would be neuro suit and off to Arkham ASAP. Superman especially, wouldn't put up with her killing anyone, even if they'd provoked her in some way.

Starfire came up to him, took him aside. "Beloved, do you think friend Terra is capable of this?"

"I think she might be, accidently." He replied. It really wasn't difficult to figure out what had happened.

Street gang, accosting young girl, probably all by herself…only this young girl was no ordinary girl. He wondered what exactly they had done to anger her so. Though frankly, given the circumstances, that part wasn't too hard to figure out, either.

Beast Boy was sticking close by Raven. "Rae? Anything?"

Raven shook her head. "Nothing of any help. If this was Terra's handiwork, her aura's changed since we knew her. That might be why my spells couldn't locate her at first. But these other two I'm sensing…I can't really tell much about them. Only that they're non-humans of some sort, and at least one appears to have some command of magic of some form or another."

"Do…do you think they might be what I was sensing? About Terra's soul being in danger?"

"Gar, I just don't know. I won't say it's NOT possible, but usually, things or entities of that magnitude would have registered on my senses a long time before now. No, I suspect what you're sensing—if you are really sensing something real, and it's not just a product of your worry—is specifically oriented to Terra and Terra alone."

"That doesn't reassure me, Rae."

She put a hand on his arm. "I know, Garfield. I know."

…

Terra flipped the screen back into place, backing away across the room, hands to her mouth. Who could those people be? They'd already been looking right at her when she caught sight of them…

Gradually, slowly, she slid across the room towards the window. Maybe if she got a better look…

The alleyway was empty.

…

The Titans retreated to a more isolated region, an alleyway across the street from the scene of the massacre, and Robin made a call on a very special channel very few people even knew existed. "Robin," said the unsurprised voice that answered.

"I'm sure you know where we are and what we've found. Anything else we need to know?"

"Only that I've tracked you're missing member to a small antique shop on Thirty-second street. There's evidence that Markovian operatives may be closing in around her. There's another party at work, and they don't seem aligned with anyone else in my files."

"Could they be agents of Markovia?"

"No. They're a separate power altogether. Don't underestimate them; they're not ordinary humans. And I can't keep the League off this much longer."

"Markovian commandos, and some weird, unidentified agents. Great. Anything else?"

"Only that you'd best hurry if you want to beat either of them there. I can't stall the League much longer. And don't underestimate these wild cards."

…

A head-achy Terra woke up in a dark room. Where- This wasn't her bedroom. This wasn't her bed. She could sense a presence in the room with her. "W-where…am I?" She sat up, noticing that there was a nightstand beside her bed with a glass of what appeared to be water, and some pills right beside it. Pain pills, maybe? She didn't know, and she wasn't about to just swallow any old drug she happened across. In her experiences, Terra had encountered drugs, and had once briefly experimented with a drug given to her by…she couldn't quite remember who. That was after a particularly bad—well, actually, catastrophic—mistake on her part, involving her powers. The pills had only made things worse, not better. Under their influence, she'd lost control again, worsening the problem.

"I see you're awake. Good. Don't be alarmed," said a strange voice. Terra whipped her head around. Standing over by the door were two strangers: a man and a woman, both clad in dark clothing. "We've no intention of harming you," said the woman. There was something odd about them both, though Terra couldn't put her finger on it.

Terra felt of her head. "Who are you?"

"I'm Lana, and this is Evan."

"Did you…knock me out?"

"In a way. We had to get you out of that apartment, and quickly. Your friends, the Titans, were closing in on you. The Justice League just now found out about you, and your whereabouts. I'm sure you've detected them hunting for you. Plus you're being hunted by agents of your father, King Viktor. I doubt they want to wish you a happy birthday."

"Uh…o-kay. But…who are you two? You're not with the Titans, at least not as I remember them, and you don't look like Justice League."

"We're not." The strange woman glanced at the man. "It's…a little difficult to explain properly here. How's your head?"

"Clearing. What did you do, clobber me over the head?"

The woman laughed. It was not all that pleasant a sound. "No. Just a gas introduced into your air conditioner. It's harmless, but if your head is still hurting, feel free to take those pills."

"What are they?"

"Nothing bad. It's ibuprofen, prescription strength."

"Er…" Terra was still hesitant. Her head did still ache, but she wasn't sure she could trust these people. "I'll, uhm, pass." Would they force her to take an unknown medication?

The woman shrugged. The man hadn't said a word the entire time. "Suit yourself. But you'd best get dressed." Terra suddenly realized she was wearing a pair of sleep pants and a tee shirt. The last thing she remembered was, she'd been wearing her street clothes.

"You say that like I'm supposed to go somewhere. And you still haven't told me who you two are…or, should I say, WHAT you are. I can tell you're…different."

Again the woman glanced at her companion. "It's a rather long story…but the short version is, you're a very important person, more so than you can even imagine, and we believe you to be in danger. Serious danger. We need to take you to a safe location. Until we get you there, you're under our protection."

"Some protection," muttered Terra, holding her head. "I get 'protected' like that much more, I might get a concussion."

"Oh, come on. It's only a headache. We know what we're doing. Take one of those pills. And, for what it's worth, we ARE sorry for the…shall we say, the ABRUPTNESS of our…introduction. But you ARE in great danger, both from foes mortal…and otherwise." The way she said that brought chills to Terra. A non-mortal foe? Who or what could that be?

"Why? What have I got to do with all this?"

"Look, get dressed. Evan and I will try to explain everything on the way. But our cloaking spells can only do so much. The League knows you're here; Superman or Zatanna could probably break through our spells if they focus on this spot. You really don't want them to find you. So we have to go."

Terra quickly changed into the clothes they'd laid out, with the man turning his back. Evidently, they were serious about staying with her, but Terra couldn't decide if she was a guest or a prisoner, or, perhaps, both.

Downstairs: the two had insisted on taking the stairs. "No elevators," grunted the man. They were the first words Terra had heard him speak. "And we need to hurry. I can feel the Eye searching for us even now."

"The Eye? What eye?"

"The Eye we're trying to avoid. If you never see it, count yourself fortunate."

There was a black limousine waiting for them on the street down below. After a careful look around, the pair escorted an increasing nervous Terra into it. Hah, she thought. Everybody has warned me about not accepting rides from strangers…

…so why do I feel so edgy all of a sudden?

The man Lana had called Evan suddenly growled, and Terra had to keep from jumping. It had sounded like the growl of a wild beast. "Hurry, Lana! He's found us!"

The two of them practically threw Terra into the car, with Evan slipping into the driver's seat. The vehicle pulled out immediately, and sped down the street. "Lana, Terra, get down!" Both the women ducked down in the seats, but not fast enough to keep Terra from witnessing what happened next.

Suddenly, there was a huge sound like a great ripping of fabric, and the building they'd just come from lit up like a Halloween jack-o-'lantern; Terra could almost see the interior. There was no fire, just an enormous reddish-yellow LIGHT that seemed to come down from the sky, illuminating the entire building. It reminded her of the Martian heat-ray from the old War of the Worlds movie she'd seen once.

(What was this image of a green boy that flashed through her mind when she thought of that? Who WAS he, that she should remember yet not remember him?)

The whole building flashed into light, and was gone.

Terra looked on in horror. Everything, Melanie, all her few possessions…gone, in an instant. "That," said Evan from the front seat, "was the Eye."

To be continued…

Hey guys sorry if this took me so long I was very busy with work lately. I hope you guys like it please read and review if you have any questions you can just PM to me.


	4. Chapter 4 The truth

It's been decades since I stepped outside," murmured the boy, standing on top of the tallest building in Gotham City. He was two hundred stories up and completely unworried about it. The storm raged around him, the upper stories of the buildings under construction ringing like bells warning of disaster.

To the eye, he was a sixteen year old boy with black spiky hair, with pale skin, wearing black jeans, black combat boots, and a black trench coat. Aside from his dark manner of dress, there was nothing about him that indicated anything abnormal…from a distance. But if one looked closer, they might notice eyes a bit redder than the run of the mill, and long-fingered hands ending in sharp, black claws. Were they very close, they might also notice some uncomfortably long fangs in his mouth…but usually, people who got that close ceased noticing anything of this world shortly after.

"Hm." He narrowed those red-litten eyes. "I sense that Azalea…no, wait; she now calls herself Terra-is no longer in this city. Wonder why the name change? Well," he mused to himself, "I guess it doesn't matter." He brought himself back to reality with an almost imperceptible shake of the head, "I will STILL find her. Eye! Focus." He closed his eyes, then reopened them. Now his view of the city was different: now he saw it as a web of interconnected lines, lines of power, lines of force.

Most of those lines radiated every which way, but a strong thread led out of the city… "Okay," he said, "Now I gotcha." And with a movement too fast for the human eye to see, he disappeared.

…

Terra sat in the back of the car, arms crossed in front of her chest, shivering slightly. That…she couldn't…this couldn't be real. It was all some nightmare she was having.

First, those…people in the back alley, the ones who'd barged into her life. Evan and Lana? Who were they? What was their interest in her? Why this cloak and dagger routine? "So…run that by me again? I'm supposed to be…who now?"

The spiky haired man in the front seat grunted. The woman—who reminded Terra of Raven—turned to her, from looking out the window. Terra thought there was something a bit abrupt about the way she did so. "The short version," she began, "is that you are the reincarnation of our goddess, Azalea. All other questions will have to wait until we're out of danger…"

"Assuming we ever GET out of danger," grumbled the man driving the car.

"UNTIL WE'RE OUT of danger, WHICH ISN'T YET," the woman said, her emphasis on the words obvious. "As I'm sure you can guess," this to Terra, "there's a bit more to it than just that."

"Look, I think you have the wrong girl. I'm no goddess. I'm only a plain mortal. So I've got powers, yeah, but so does half the population of the entire planet Earth, to look at the news reports. You can't turn over a rock without finding another superhero underneath it. Well, I mean, I could, but still. You know. Besides, it's not like it's done me any good lately. Powers? Hah! I wish I could get rid of mine."

"You can no more get rid of your powers than you could your self. In fact, that's precisely what happened, more or less."

"I'm guessing that didn't work out so good, huh?"

"You were forced to…vacate this plane of existence. Why doesn't matter, at this point. But the process caused you to be reborn, in your current," and here the woman gave her a look that made Terra squirm, "depressingly human body."

"Hey!"

"Don't mind her," said the man, "She hasn't been happy about anything since the Fall of Rome."

"Not true. The eruption of Mount Krakatoa made for some nice sunsets."

"Not enough casualties for you."

"It isn't about loss of life, it's about-"

"WILL YOU TWO STICK TO THE SUBJECT!" Terra was surprised by the strength of her own voice. They both turned to her, eyes wide. Terra's own eyes widened as she realized the man was still driving. "Hey! Watch it! Eyes on the road, there, Juan Valdez!"

He turned back, just in time to avoid being sideswiped by a FedEx truck. With a curse, he swerved back over into their lane. "Name's Evan, not Juan Valdez," he said, over his shoulder. "I don't pick coffee beans. Well, not anymore, I don't." He muttered, "Those things get ALL OVER your hands, under your claws, I don't wanna even think about it…"

The woman, Lana, had already dismissed his grumbling, and turned back to Terra. "Look, let me give you some of it, anyway. I guess we 've got time for that, any, anyway, it's better for you to know some than know none whatsoever." She glanced down at something on her wrist. Terra's interest was piqued; it didn't look like any wristwatch she'd ever seen. For that matter, it didn't really look like anything she'd ever seen, period. "You, Tara Markov, or Terra, whichever name you prefer, are the reincarnation of our goddess, Azalea. As such, that puts you in great danger. Goddesses don't die for kicks. Either someone makes them die, or they decide to, as I said, leave this plane of existence for a reason. In your case, that reason was because you'd become inextricably linked to a dark force, a force personified in what would appear to you now, as you are, human. Of course, it's not human, but, well, you know. Camouflage. It's not human any more than Evan and I are, or, for that matter, than you are. It's just, sometimes, these things manifest themselves this way," she gestured to herself, "on this plane of existence for a number of reasons. The same way that energy, most often, manifests itself as heat. It can take on other forms, velocity, etc, which you should be familiar with: when you move the earth, you give energy to the rocks, dust, whatever, and it's manifested as motion. Anyway, this dark force is active again, which means YOU are active again. Just as you left for a reason, now you're back for a reason…"

"You're overthinking things again, Lana," said Evan, He tilted his head back towards Terra without taking his eyes off the road. "It can change shape. And its presence here is responsible for your presence here. Got it?"

"Got it." She was thinking of Beast Boy. Some of her memories were starting to come back, but she could sense there was still so much… "Shapechanger. Presence. Right."

"Uh, well, yes," agreed Lana, seemingly reluctantly. "A shapeshifter, essentially. Anyway, now it's back. You saw what it would do, back there. So, yeah, danger. To you, or anybody associated with you."

"All right. How does this relate to me waking up in a cave with no memories?" Her memories were returning, but she could tell their was so much

"For most of your life you believed you were an ordinary human given extraordinary powers. But you weren't. Evan and I have been tracking you ever since you were born. We've only now caught up with you."

Evan turned the wheel. "Yeah, and now, you don't remember nuthin'. Peachy. So we're having' to fill you in."

"I still think you've got the wrong person. I mean, there's so many of these so called reborn or reincarnated goddesses, they take up half the damn yellow pages. It'd be easy to get the wrong girl."

"We aren't wrong. Consider. Just the fact that Murdoc's Eye targeted YOU means HE thinks you're the goddess. So whether you are or aren't, you're still in grave danger."

That was a sobering thought. She had to admit, had she stayed back at the apartment, she'd be as dead as…

…as dead as…

…as dead as one of the few people who'd been kind to her. The thought sent both a cold chill down her back, and ignited something hot within her. Overkill, much? All of a sudden, she wanted to get this bozo in her sights…

"Whoa, hold it!" shouted Evan. A huge crack had just opened up in the road up ahead, and a small mountain of rock and earth was emerging, like stop-motion building of a miniature mountain range right in front of the speeding car. "Reign it back in! You'll wreck us all!"

"Whups. Sorry. My bad."

They drove on in silence for a while after that. Evan skillfully negotiated the hillock in the middle of the road, and shot the car at maximum legal speed along the highway.

Lana sniffed. "You COULD go faster, you know. I could take care of the mortal's insipid radar."

"But you couldn't take care of the mortals' insipid SIGHT, Lana. Or have you forgotten that the cops can still see?"

"I can fix that, too," said the fallen angel, fingering her knives.

"Look, will you two quit making me feel like I've fallen into a buddy cop movie? Just where are we going, anyway?"

"We have a safe house established just a few kilometers from here. Once we're there, we can fill you in on all the gruesome details."

"There's MORE?"

"There's ALWAYS more, Terra. ALWAYS."

…

"There they go," said the dark garbed figure standing by the side of the road. He'd sensed the trio's vehicle—one of those stupid human contrivances—coming down the highway, and had to resist the urge to stick out his thumb. It would have been hilarious if they'd actually stopped to give him a ride, but he knew that wouldn't happen, anyway. Still, it was fun to think about. Alright, now, he thought to himself, on to business.

…

SHIT!" Evan hit the gas pedal with such force that the two in the back were thrown back against the cushions. Terra was reminded of Apollo and Starbuck on the "Battlestar Galactica" series, launching out in their Viper fighter craft. She could almost hear the theme music playing in the background. "Hey! What's with the sudden launch, there, Commander Adama?"

"My name's not—oh, never mind," Evan growled. "Look behind us."

Both Terra and Lana turned their attention to the roadway behind them, and Terra gasped. Running up the highway behind them was what appeared to be a young man dressed in dark clothes, wearing a black duster, leaping nimbly over what few cars and vans were on the highway, easily zipping around the fissure in the earth Terra's previous energy surge had created. He was gaining on them. Terra glanced at the speedometer, and gasped again. "ONE HUNDRED TWENTY MILES PER HOUR?! No freakin' way!"

"Freakin' way," grumbled Evan.

"Let me guess: that's him, right?"

"HowEVER did you figure that out?"

"Nobody likes a smartass." Terra glanced nervously at the speeding figure behind them. He did exude an almost palpable aura of malevolence. And she could have sworn he was grinning. "Can we outrun him?"

"Damfino. I'm sure gonna try."

"Isn't he bein' kinda obvious?" She stole another glance back. "I mean, c'mon. What, can't he afford a car?"

"He might get pulled over for being underage, and having no ID. His ego couldn't take the notion of a god of darkness getting arrested for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle."

"What's he gonna do if he catches us?'

"Dunno. Rip the car apart, probably."

"What about us?'

"Why would we rip the car apart?"

"I mean, what would he do to us?"

"Oh. Same thing."

"Well, then, whattaya waitin' for? Floor it, Captain Apollo!"

"My name's not—oh, hell with it." He pressed the accelerator all the way down, and the heavily over-muscled limousine shot up to its full velocity. "But we are definitely talking about this later! Whether at the safe house…

"…or in the afterlife."

…

"…she was very lucky, Robin. Evidently, she'd stepped outside, maybe to put out some trash or something, we don't know, and whatever happened was highly localized. Did you wanna talk with her?" The officer in charge of sifting through the wreckage of the building looked at the Teen Titan, handing them a clipboard full of reports.

"Yeah, let's see if she can tell us anything." Robin and Starfire were the only ones attending the scene, the others having been called away on other assignments. It hadn't been easy to get Beast Boy to go with them, but Robin had insisted that he go, citing his animal senses as being vital.

"But why can't Cy go? He's got all kinds of fancy sensors. You guys don't need me!"

"Yes, we do. Cy's been called away on that Mumbo Jumbo case. You know Mumbo's powers don't work as well on his technology as they do on us mere organics. I need you to go with Raven on this one." The green teen grudgingly agreed.

Starfire waited until they were alone. "Beloved, you are not fooling me, and I doubt you are fooling friend Garfield either."

Robin sighed. "I know, Star, but Garfield's way too wrapped up in this to be effective. You know how he felt about Terra; now we're going to investigate a scene where she might have been. What if we found out she'd killed someone? Even accidently? How would he cope with that? We'd have no choice but to arrest her, or try to." He didn't say what was in both their minds: what if we had no choice but to kill her?

It was the rule of thumb that heroes didn't kill. But there were sometimes when you couldn't use the thumb. You had to use the finger. The trigger finger.

The two walked over to the police van where the woman was waiting, a cold compress up against her face. The attendant EMT personnel glanced at them, then moved away so they could talk. "Ms. uh, Walker? I'm Robin, and this," he gestured to Starfire, "is Starfire. We're with the Teen Titans, from Jump City. We'd like to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?"

Amy Walker looked up at them, clearly still befuddled. That wasn't uncommon, thought Robin. She'd just had a very close brush with death, and the shock, both physical and mental, hadn't had the time to wear off yet. "Y-yes, I, I…what do you want to know?"

"Can you recall seeing a young blond girl, about five one, very skinny, with long straight hair? Blue eyes? Anyone like that?"

"W-why, yes! That was, was Terra! I'd hired her to work in my shop! She was living in…" Amy Walker's gaze traveled back to the wreckage of the building she'd called home for so long. "I…is she…I mean, she's not…?"

Robin put a consoling hand on her shoulder. Sometimes a simple touch is reassuring, and Ms. Walker had been through hell. A hell of short duration, maybe, but still. "We don't really know yet, ma'am, but we don't think so. We've found no trace of her in the ruins, so we're thinking she may have escaped, like you did.

"But we are trying to find her. Now, when did you first meet her, and where?"

…

Evan utilized all his skill in evading their pursuer. He needed it; Murdoc wasn't bound by the highway, and quite often took a shortcut across the countryside. When that happened, Evan usually let out another cuss word of increasing intensity and swerved off onto a shortcut of his own. Terra kept glancing back. Murdoc's grin hadn't faded. He's enjoying this a little too much, she thought. "You know, from the expression on his face, it looks like he's got us right where he wants us, moving target or no."

"That's true. He knows it's only a matter of time until we run out of gas. Or until he catches us."

"So what's Plan B?"

"Dunno. Lana? You gotta Plan B?"

"Maybe." The fallen angel was fumbling with her knives, looking for a very special one. "If you can get some distance on him, give me some time…"

"I'll sure try!" The werewolf made a forty-five degree left turn onto an unpaved road. Both Terra and Lana were bouncing up and down with every pothole.

"I said give me time, not an accident!"

"Ah, quit 'cher whining. I'm not gonna have a car wreck."

"That wasn't the kind of accident I was talking about!"

But presently, fearful glances at the rear view showed no signs of pursuit. "Okay, here! Stop right here!" Evan ground to a halt so suddenly that he flung his passengers forward into the backs of the front seats.

Lana was already moving, slamming the car door open and rolling out, cradling one bladed instrument, careful not to stab herself. She rolled / ran to a spot just behind them on the road…

…just in time to see Murdoc, grinning as usual, come flying out of the trees, heading directly for them.

Lana stabbed the knife into the dirt of the unpaved road. Immediately, there was a shower of sparks, sparks that danced to and fro, spreading outward, right and left, from where she'd planted the blade. Murdoc was just about to fall on her when he ran into what looked like a wall of lightning, separating the trio from him. His grin faded. "You BITCH!"

"Practice makes perfect!" She ran back to the car, scrambling in beside Terra. "Floor it, Even! Get us out of here!"

Behind them, Murdoc pounded on what seemed to Terra to be an invisible wall. With each blow, the wall glowed, lightning radiating outward. At least, thought Terra, he's not grinning anymore. "What'd you do?" she asked the fallen angel.

Lana slumped back against the seat, seeming exhausted. She ran a hand through her hair. "Ley lines. Lines of mystical potential that criss-cross the planet. I activated one; Murdoc can't get through it. Oh, well, he could, but it'll take him a while. And by the time he does that, or finds a way around it, we'll be at the safe house." She glanced at Evan, who still had the steering wheel in a death grip. "Whattaya waiting for? Get us out of here, Jeeves!"

"Now don't YOU start," growled Evan. Then, to himself, "What IS it with these people and my name?!"

…

The car ground to a halt in front of a modest seeming one-story house. Evan opened his door, breathing a sigh of relief. Lana hopped out on her side. "We don't need to stay here too long."

Terra followed them into the dwelling. She looked around nervously. There was nothing but open countryside all around. "You call this a safe house? Looks more like a sitting duck house to me."

"That's where you're wrong," said Lana, leading the way into the house. Once inside, she indicated a comfortable looking couch, in which Terra plopped gratefully. It was certainly way more comfortable than the back seat of the car. "This house rests on a confluence of ley lines, a convergence. Murdoc can't sense us here, directly. He'll have to hunt for us."

"How hard could that be? I mean, the guy was right behind us."

"Harder than you think. There's a lot of such places, and, since he can't see directly into one, or trace our lines of potential, he'll have to go through them all. And, he'll have to break through every single one, like cracking every single walnut in a bushel, to find us. No, more than likely, what he'll do is wait for us to make a move out of this dead zone…THEN he'll leap."

"'Leap.'" Terra shuddered. She still remembered the maniacal grin on the face of the being behind them. "Not the most comforting scenario I've heard of."

"There are worse. However, now we can begin to really fill you in on what's going on. Because, you see, regardless of what you know or do, Murdoc is still going to be looking for you. And believe me, you don't want him to find you, at least not like this."

…

Murdoc was beside himself with anger. That bitch angel had blocked him, kept him away from his prey. She'd pay for that. Idly, he wondered if Terra realized just what danger she was in, and not just from him.

He wondered if they'd tell her the Truth.

…

Okay…so…you guys are telling me I'm some dumb goddess. I still think you've got the wrong person. I mean, if I were a goddess, would I look like THIS?" And she gestured to her chest. "I mean, c'mon. I'd at least be a C-cup."

"The circumstances of your rebirth didn't allow for any such…alterations. You were born just like any mortal is born, having no control over your genetic heritage. What IS different about you is your metaphysical makeup. THAT you had control over. At least, you did when you, er, died."

"And I died fighting this Mudrow clown?"

"Murdoc. And sort of. It's complicated, but you fought an all-out war with him, laying waste to most of the countryside. It took a long time for Flemunia to recover."

"Fle-. Where's that?"

"It actually is on another plane of existence." She saw Terra's puzzled / exasperated look. "Look, it's like this: there are an infinite number of universes, but not all of them are at the same…I suppose you'd say, energy level, though that's hardly accurate. Flemunia was on a higher plane, a higher energy level. On that plane, you were the incarnation of light, the goddess Azalea…"

"I was named for a plant?"

"There are no azaleas in Flemunia, so no. It's just a coincidence that your goddess-name and the name of the plant are the same…"

"Stick to the subject, Lana," growled Evan, speaking for the first time. He'd been standing by the window, gazing out with what seemed to Terra to be a nervous gaze. He was clearly expecting Murdoc to leap upon them anytime. "Give her the Cliff Notes version. We haven't got all day."

"Alright," said Lana. She sat down in front of Terra. "Okay. Here's the 'scoop,' as the humans say. Long ago, in the dimension and the land of Flemunia, there was a goddess named Azalea. She ruled fairly and justly, and was loved by everyone..." Terra could feel her eyes already starting to glaze over. "That is, except for one who wanted to rip your guts out." Alright, wide awake now.

"A dark force arose, opposing her, wanting to, to consume the land within itself. Quite naturally, she couldn't allow that to happen.

"But in order to defeat this force, she was forced to use a spell that was too powerful even for her to fully control. She did defeat the dark force…temporarily. But the side effects of the spell somehow linked her to the darkness in some way, so that, as long as she lived, so would it. Therefore, being the just ruler that she was, she chose to…well, there's no other word for it. She chose to die, to leave that plane of existence, taking the dark force with her." She grimaced. "Needless to say, life in Flemunia sort of went downhill after that.

"But it appears that wasn't a permanent solution. Murdoc—the incarnation of the dark force—is back. And because he's back here, in the world, means that Azalea is ALSO back. And that's you."

"So YOU say. And what's to keep this Murdery clown from having the wrong person too?"

"It's Murdoc. And he's drawn to you, the same way iron filings are to a magnet. He's not wrong. Neither are we."

"Well, OKay," Terra said, exasperatedly. She was getting tired of arguing with these crazy people. "Let's take that as a given. Now. Where do I go from here? What am I supposed to do about it? From what you've said, and from what I've seen, I'm nowhere near this Moo Hoo guy's weight class."

"It's Murdoc. And you can learn to use those powers that, up until now, you haven't suspected you had. In fact, if you want to live, you'll have to."

The certainty with which she said that sent a chill up Terra's spine.

…

Miles away: the entity known in the worlds of men and others as Murdoc looked up at the dark-clouded sky. Once again, he grimaced, his face becoming a mask of rage. Then, however, he calmed himself. This was by no means the final showdown. He'd have plenty of time to find Azalea / Terra and…do what needed to be done.

And that wouldn't be pleasant. For either of them.

…

"Okay. So…I guess I'm not getting away from you on this." Terra heaved a huge sigh. "So what do you want me to do? How do I start this? Evidently, neither of you is gonna let up until I do."

"From what you just saw, do you really expect us to? I mean, seriously. Now. You know the overview. Here." Lana moved to a small alcove. "Look at this." And she showed Terra the piece of stained glass enshrined within.

Terra gasped. It was a perfect representation of her, or as she might be in a few years. It went beyond just looking like her; the lines of the woman's face and mouth, even her hairstyle (which she'd tried, for years, to change into something a bit more Hollywood) were the same. Moreover, the piece of stained glass reeked of age; it wasn't something someone had cobbled together anytime recently. Terra had been raised, part of her life, in a castle. She knew a thing or two about how really old objects looked and felt…

"Careful," warned Lana. "You might not want to touch it right now." Terra had, without realizing it, reached out to the glass.

"Why? Is it magic or something?"

"No. Just sharp."

Terra drew back. "Okay," she said, resolve settling into her face. "I'm guessing you just showed me a picture of me, from Before. So now tell me about this Muddyoptic creep. You say I defeated him? How is it he's back?"

"It's Murdoc. You—or, more accurately, the earlier version of you—used a spell that was supposed to seal him away in a crystal forever. But it didn't quite work out that way. For starters, the crystal was lost, and we assume it to be broken. But, even worse, the spell used…Terra, how much do you know of magic?"

"Would zilch work for you?"

"To the uninitiated, it looks like magic can just do anything. Wave your hand, blink your eyes, twitch your nose, say something in Latin, and miracles happen. But in reality, it's not like that. The energy for action has to come from somewhere. Think of the modern computer age: to people of only a couple hundred years ago, all this," here, she waved her hand around, including the room, "would seem impossible. Light and warmth without fire? Pictures that move on a screen? Hearing and seeing someone from a continent away? Vehicles that operate without animals to pull them? Beams of light that can burn through an object? Impossible. Has to be magic. Except it isn't. It's all applied energy.

"Just like when you move rocks and earth. You invest something with energy and move it around. But that energy has to come from somewhere."

"So where does it come from? It sure doesn't come from me! I get exhausted watching grass grow."

"No, it doesn't come from you. Well, it sort of does, but it mostly doesn't. There are forces in the universe that people—and gods—can tap into, that they have a natural affinity for. One of those is the power you called down to defeat Murdoc. It was so great, that it laid waste to a good portion of the very land you were trying to protect. But it also had the side effect of somehow linking the two of you together. In order for Murdoc to truly be gone, to truly be no more of a threat to Flemunia, you had to be no more, too. So you chose to…do that. Accept that fate.

"However, you were able to put a clause in the spell, that being, that if Murdoc ever got loose and started causing trouble again, you'd be reborn, as well. Well, he did, and you were, and now here we all are.

"Get it now?"

"Got it. Don't like it. But got it. So now what?"

"Now…you have to learn how to learn your powers. That is, if you want to live."

…

Titans' Tower: Robin had just finished detailing his report to the Justice League, and Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were going over it with him. "So," said Batman, "you found no trace of Terra? None whatsoever?"

"None beyond what I've already told you. The woman's report was, of course, not complete, but you can't blame her for not knowing that much about the situation. She had no idea that Terra was a metahuman, and I didn't see fit to tell her anything about all that. All she knows is that Terra came to her, essentially homeless, was given a job, appeared to be doing it well, and then this." He paused a moment. "There is one peculiarity I wasn't sure how to explain in the report."

"Yes?" Superman hunched forward, even though, with super hearing, he could probably hear what Robin had to say even without the satellite uplink.

"Starfire and I sifted through the wreckage of the building, as best as we could, considering the local authorities' involvement. One thing I noticed: there didn't seem to be quite the level of destruction I would have expected. It wasn't a bomb, of that I'm sure. From what we were able to gather, it seemed to be the effect of some sort of beam weapon, possibly—no, make that certainly—orbitally based. A weapon fired from orbit."

The members of the Justice League shifted. "Superman?" Batman addressed his colleague. "Have you been able to detect any sign of such weaponry?"

"No. And I would have, most certainly would have detected it, especially up here." In orbit, there should have been no conflicting elements such as lead, gold, or others. Such things did happen on the surface, but in orbit…it there should have been nothing. Nothing unless… "So that leaves magic of some sort."

"Exactly. And, as far as we know, or knew, Terra was no magic user. Powerful, yes, but not a mage." He glanced at Raven, who shrugged. He'd already delegated her to run a forensic scan of the site, to see if any magics could be detected. Her results had been conflicted. Yes, there was magic involved, but what sort, she couldn't say. It was of a kind she'd never encountered. Could Terra have been responsible? No, Raven had said. If it was Terra, she'd have to have become a wholly different person, which meant all bets were off.

Batman spoke up, there over the comm link. "Something you should know. My own sensors detected this beam from space. However…" The others waited.

"However, there was no point source. It just appeared."

…

Later: Robin and Starfire were walking along the corridor away from the conference room. Starfire hooked her arm in his. "Beloved, one has noticed that you did not share the most important part of your discovery with the League of Justice."

Robin nodded. "That's true, I didn't. I…frankly, Star, I'm not sure what to make of it. So…I didn't know what the League would make of it, either. I'm doing my best to cut Terra the biggest break I can, without jeopardizing anyone else in the process. And I don't have any explanation for this.

"For the life of me, I can't understand…why there's no record of her anywhere. Even in our own files.

"It's as though she doesn't exist, and never has."

…

Somewhere far beyond dimensional space, far beyond anything that either humans or gods would call "reality," something shifted. Something neither humans nor gods could understand or comprehend.

It was not sentient, not in terms anyone would call "sentience," nor was it mindless. It had a vague concept of mortals. And what they could do for It.

It wanted that.

…

"Okay, so I'm supposed to be the reincarnation of this goddess from some other dimension, this Flea Market or something…"

"Flemunia. It's FLEMUNIA."

"Right, I knew fleas were in it somewhere. Okay. So now what do I do? Begin training? Where? Seems like anywhere I'd go to train would attract this Moondark guy. How can I train with him busting in all the time?"

"Murdoc. It's MURDOC. And as to that other, we'll show you." Evan turned away from his vigil at the window. "Needless to say, it's more important now than ever. If Murdoc figures out you're here, there's nothing to prevent him from siccing the Eye upon us again. And up we'd go, in flames. I'd really rather avoid that, if possible."

Terra shivered.

…

Later, after a delicious dinner Evan himself had cooked ("you don't wanna eat Lana's cooking. Angels, especially fallen ones, don't have the same kind of taste buds as us mere mortals." Lana had given him a hard glare that lasted a good ten minutes. Terra had to concentrate on her food to keep from bursting out with laughter.), Lana showed Terra to a large bedroom. "This will be your room for the rest of the time we're here. Make yourself comfortable." She left, leaving Terra to examine the spacious bedroom.

She didn't bother right then, but just plopped down on the bed, face down, clothes on. She'd been on the run for what seemed like a whole day, but was probably just a few hours. The release of tension…

Within seconds, she was fast asleep.

…

Miles away: Murdoc was getting more and more frustrated.

That cheap whore, Lana, had interfered with his plans. NObody interfered with his plans. ESPECIALLY this plan. He was still standing in the middle of the road, mere feet away from where Lana's athame was protruding from the ground. He pulled out his cell, dialed a very special and untraceable number. "Yes?" said the voice of the one who'd picked up.

"I lost her."

"You WHAT?!"

"You heard me, I didn't stutter. I lost her. She's not alone. Evidently, she's got some powerful…acquaintances, shall we say. One of them knew a trick to throw me off the trail."

"I thought you were supposed to be this oh-so-powerful god of darkness or something."

"I AM this oh-so-powerful god of darkness or something, and if you keep talking to me in that tone of voice, I'll show you what an oh-so-powerful god of darkness or something can do. To you. Personally. But enough WWE trash talk. I'm gonna need you and your agents to sniff her out, give me some general indication as to where she might be."

There was a pause. The individual on the other end of the line knew perfectly well what Murdoc was capable of, and didn't want to see ANOTHER example of it. So then, "I'll get my best agents on it, ASAP."

"Good. I want answers by tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night! That's…" The voice trailed off.

"…when I want the answers, right. Otherwise, don't bother going to your office day after tomorrow.

The city it's in won't be there."

…

Raven found herself outside of Beast Boy's room. Normally, she never went in there; Garfield didn't seem to have the "clean" gene, and, although the room was sanitary enough, the clutter was beyond belief. Sometimes, she'd known him to inadvertently hide behind a mountain of comic books ("Hey, some of them could be valuable! Remember that one that sold for, like, seventy-five thousand dollars?" To which she'd replied, "It's probably at the bottom of the pile. You'd need a forklift to find it."), but today, she found him lying, face up, on the lower bunk of his bunk beds. His expression told her everything she needed to know.

She came over and sat on the edge of the bunk bed by him. He remained where he was, staring at the bottom of the overhead bunk. For a long moment, neither of them said a word; he didn't even act like he knew she was in the room. Then, she cleared her throat, more for effect than necessity. "Gar…I know what you're thinking. And no, I don't think Terra's behind this…attack, or whatever you want to call it.

"I DO think she is involved, however."

"So why won't Robin let me be in on the…effort?" (The capture team, you mean, thought Raven.)

"You know why, Gar. You're too involved with this. If something big is going on with Terra, hesitation on the part of whoever's after her, no matter what their intentions, could cost…a lot. You remember when she was working for Slade. Several times she was about to finish you off, and each time, she hesitated. The fact that it all worked out as well as it did was…happenstance. One we can't count on happening again. She'd been trained, indoctrinated, by Slade to kill us, and she very nearly succeeded. She'd become a different person than the one you knew, or was on her way to becoming one. There's no telling what she…what she's like now, especially if magic's involved." She paused, then looked him. He found he couldn't look away from those purple orbs. "You could have died, Gar. She very easily could have killed you." She looked away. "I…I don't really know how I'd feel about that."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It means I don't want you to die, stupid!" She practically shouted. Then, clearly embarrassed, she turned away, not looking at him.

He got up from his prone position and sat beside her. "Ray?" She wouldn't look at him. "Ray, what do you mean? I mean, I understand you don't want anybody on the team to die, but…" He trailed off, unsure as to how to continue.

She actually sniffled. "It's…more than just that. I…" And here, a long pause, so long, in fact that he began to think she wasn't going to say anymore. Then, she looked up at the ceiling, and, to his vast surprise, he saw the track of a tear down the side of her face. "I probably shouldn't say this, but...I've always regarded you and Terra as my best friends. My…my ONLY friends, really. Terra, because she and I had a lot in common. We both have been ostracized because of our inability to control our powers, and you…well, you were there for me when I…needed someone. When Malchior…did what he did. I was ready to leave, did you know that? Too many painful memories. Just leave. Find someplace where nobody knew me, and just…hole up. Maybe a cave or something, for Azar's sake. Become a hermit or something. And then…when Adonis attacked. You…you saved me. Yeah, I put up a front, like always, but…" She dropped her head.

"…a girl just doesn't forget things like that." This last spoken in a whisper he could barely hear.

"Rae, I-"

But she held up a hand. "No, wait, Gar. Don't say anything, okay? Just…don't say anything. This is just…I don't know. Just me talking. I'm talking nonsense, okay? So just forget we ever had this conversation, okay? It didn't happen. Maybe it's just that time of the month for me or something. Tomorrow it'll be back to business as usual." She got up and went to the door, which swished open at her command. "Just…disregard everything I said. So…just never mind about the whole thing."

In the doorway, she turned, facing him, her expression back to her old Raven-type bored plus keep-your-distance expression. "Just remember; stay out of my room. Period." But, even as she said it, her expression softened just a little. "Unless, of course you…never mi-" The closing doorway cut off anything else she was going to say.

Garfield sat and thought about what he'd just heard for a good thirty minutes.

…

The next morning: Terra awoke to the smell of bacon frying. It practically drew her into the kitchen like a magnet.

Evan was, once again, at the stove, wearing an apron, even. Lana was sitting at the table, scowling into a tablet. She evidently didn't like what she was seeing. Either that, or she had lost the draw for cooking duty.

Evan himself was scowling at the skillet. He clearly wasn't exactly happy about something.

"You didn't put on the clothes I put out for you?" said Lana.

"Uhm, actually, no." Terra glanced down at her nightgown. Her two protectors—she guessed—had provided her with an old-style nightgown like something her great-grandmother might've worn.

That is, if she'd had one. "No, I was too busy devouring that delicious smell. How soon can I devour what's producing it?"

"Give me about five minutes. The eggs will be ready then, too. In the meantime, you might wanna get dressed. We've a hard day ahead of us. This," he waved a spatula, "is to get you fortified for it. Believe me, you'll need it." Terra gulped. She had a hunch that when the werewolf said, "a hard day," he was actually understating the case.

She showered, and then turned her attention to the outfit Lana had mentioned. Laid out, ready for her, was a yellow cheongsam with long sleeves that stopped at her elbow, black short leggings down to the kneecaps, dark brown fingerless gloves, a short black cloak (she was reminded of Mud Beam's dark duster; curious, that), adorned with her precious jewel shaped butterfly that Beast Boy had given her, holding the cloak together. A pair of dark, brown combat boots completed the ensemble. Since he'd told her she'd have a busy day, she tied her hair up in a ponytail. When she'd been working for Slade, she'd made the mistake of leaving it long, and it had occasionally obscured her vision. That wouldn't do, in this case. No, she sensed that wouldn't do at all.

Walking back into the kitchen took some doing. Terra wasn't used to wearing combat boots. "Tell me again why I'm all duded up in dark stuff. I thought you said I was supposed to be some goddess of light, or something."

"You are. These clothes have been especially reinforced with ancient spells designed to keep them in one piece when you use your powers. Otherwise, you'd be practicing au naturel. Somehow, I don't think that's you."

"Too right. I'll leave the nude-y stuff for somebody with more upstairs." She gestured to her chest. "Too bad I can't use these oh-so-powerful powers to give myself some boobs."

"That's the last of your worries right now. For the moment, we have to run into town to get some items. Then, we'll be going straight to the training grounds."

"Uh…won't this Mudrow creep be waiting for us?"

"Murdoc. And his attention span is measured in seconds, not minutes. He's probably already delegated that task to somebody else, some underling of his. Those we can handle. It's HIM that's the biggest problem."

"So what exactly is his damage? I mean, you said we fought. Tell me more about that."

Lana and Evan exchanged glances. He put the food on the table: bacon, eggs, pancakes loaded with syrup and butter (real butter, Terra noticed, not the margarine. These guys didn't spare any expense), hash browns, and a couple of items Terra couldn't identify. However, Lana quickly scooped up, loading her own plate with them. "Angel stuff," Evan explained. "You wouldn't like it." Terra shrugged and dove into her own food. She noticed Evan didn't eat anything.

Normally, this would have set off smoke alarm bells: her two protectors (?) were not eating the same food as she was. If they were trying to drug her, or, God forbid, poison her, that was exactly what they'd do. But something told her this wasn't the case. "Okay," she said, around a mouthful of pancakes, "To continue. Tell me about the battle royal I, or that other me, got into with Murphy."

"Murdoc. It's MURDOC. But you are getting closer. It's really very simple," said Lana, around mouthfuls of her own food. Evidently, Terra noticed with an inward smile, everybody there had no trouble with a "see-food" diet… "You are the reincarnation of a goddess of light, basically. Of course, it's more complicated than that, but details will have to wait. Murdoc, or, as he was known then, Nox, is the god of darkness. Quote naturally, the two of you came into conflict. The war itself was on the verge of tearing Flemunia apart. And," and here she paused just a moment, as though gathering herself for something unpleasant, "the simple truth is, you were, well. Nox was pretty powerful, pretty cunning. Although," she hastened to add, at a look from Even, "it was really more of a draw." But Terra saw what she was saying.

She, Azalea, had been losing the war against darkness. But don't tell the kid that. It would be demoralizing. Yeah. "Demoralizing." Good word for it.

Lana continued. She'd finished her repast. "Anyway, long story short, you called down a power too great even for you to control. It vanquished Nox, but it tied you to him, in some strange way we don't fully understand. So…as long as you existed, so did he. You sealed him away in a gem, a ruby crystal. But over time, your connection to that power, and to him…wore you down. You were losing yourself, your own…it's impossible to describe in mortal terms, but the upshot is, you were on the verge of inadvertently releasing him. So, you figured, the only way to make sure he stayed where he was, was for you, the only one who could release him, to…be no more. So you…allowed that power to take you away, I guess, is the best way to put it. You succumbed to the Power you called down. It…did a number on Flemunia, and things have only gone from bad to worse there."

She leaned back from the table. "But we were prepared to deal with that. I mean, if it meant the end of Nox, well, so be it. But, of course, things weren't that simple. Since you were the one in charge of the crystal, once you were gone, someone else got hold of it. We can only presume that someone else somehow released Nox, now known as Murdoc. That release…brought you back. But of course, your own physical form was destroyed, so your essence, your soul, if you will, was reincarnated into…you." And she gestured at Terra.

"This 'depressingly human body.'"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"But Mudrock wasn't, I'm supposing."

"Murdoc. And, again, unfortunately, yes."

"How come?"

Lana shrugged. "Who knows? Probability seems to favor chaos and destruction. Maybe it's an entropic effect. Maybe God just doesn't like us. That last I can believe."

"Yeah. I keep hearing you're a fallen angel. Disagreement with the upstairs Guy?"

Lana and Evan exchanged another glance. "That's a story for another time," Evan said. "Sensitive subject. Let's just say, even fallen angels have their uses."

"Okay. Back to Mudhen. What-"

"Murdoc."

"-, yeah, okay, him. What can I do about him?"

"Destroy him. Once and for all."

"I thought you said I couldn't."

"AZALEA couldn't. But YOU might. The same strictures that applied to her, may not, repeat MAY NOT apply to you.

"Or they may. Or something worse might happen." She shrugged. "There's no real way to tell unless you try.

"But one thing's for certain: if you DON'T try, he will kill you."

…

"Tell me again, exactly what we need in town."

"I need to get some more knives, and Evan here, has to pick up some groceries. Then we'll go straight to the training grounds. That way, we can throw off any sniffers, keep them away from the safe house."

"Sniffers?"

"Humans with paranormal senses. Evan and I can sense Murdoc, but mortals are harder, mostly because there's so many of them. So, they could, conceivably follow us back to the safe house."

"Not a very safe house."

Shrug. "Well, there's limits to everything." She looked around. "But I don't believe we've been followed. If we have been, it's at the extreme limit of my senses, and I doubt that's possible for any human."

"So there's humans who cooperate with Moonlight?"

"Murdoc. And yes, there are. Some are in it for power, some are in it for money, some…well, there's an old saying, 'everybody has their price.' Not all people with paranormal senses work for him, understand, but some do. Those, as I said, are the least of our worries.

Terra paused a moment, digesting that. Then, "Knives, huh? They maybe give you a," she began to chortle, "a c-cut rate?" She couldn't help it anymore, and began laughing uproariously, holding her sides. People passing them on the sidewalk looked at her curiously.

"Har de har har," said Lana.

Lunch was at a local McDonald's, to Terra's surprise. "What?" said Evan, "I love the fries!"

"Just never figured you for the type, somehow."

(Earlier, when placing their order, Lana had ordered for them. Terra and Evan had stood behind her. "And what'll your husband have?" asked the clerk, all smiles.

"'Husband'?" muttered Evan, so low that only Terra, who was right next to him, could hear him. He looked at Lana with an unmistakable expression on his ruggedly handsome face. "Oh, GOD, no." It was all Terra could do to keep from laughing.)

"So," said Terra, "where's this-"

"AHEM," said Lana, loud enough to turn heads. "We're going TO THE ZOO." Her voice wasn't loud, but the intensity of it was clearly evident: don't mention the 't' word.

"O…kay," said Terra, agreeably. "this has gotta be SOME ZOO." Privately, she relished the chance to tweak her companions just a little.

"Oh, it is," said Evan, with the same intensity, "it's a regular BLAST. You'll have to SEE it for YOURself."

But neither of them seemed in too much hurry to leave. After about thirty or so minutes, something occurred to Terra. "Hey." They looked at her. "Where's my butterfly hairpiece?"

They looked at her head. "Must'a dropped off somewhere," said Lana.

"OOOH, NO, it doesn't!" Terra said with force. "That pin has got some sentimental value for me!"

"Might's dropped off in the car," muttered Evan, chowing down on another round of hot McFries. That had to be at least the seventh one he'd gotten.

"Go take a look," said Lana. Evan shot her a look. "It's just to the car," she said with a shrug. "It'll be okay."

"Alright." Out the door she went, thankful that this was a pay-before-you-eat establishment; nobody would care.

The car was wedged in pretty tight in a spot right beside the "handicapped" parking spot. There was a vehicle in it, and Terra noticed it didn't have a "handicapped" tag on it. Typical, she thought, with a sneer. Probably some teenager. No consideration. Maybe he'd get a ticket.

But just as she put her hand on the door of their car, the door of the illegally parked vehicle opened behind her, and a pair of incredibly strong hands closed over her, one over her mouth, effectively stifling any cry for help she could have made. "Mmmmph!" And she was dragged into the car.

Once inside, the engine roared to life, and the car, with no driver, pulled out of the spot. She was able to turn her head enough to see the face of the person who was holding her so securely. Her eyes widened as she recognized it: it was the same one she'd seen running along the road behind them not all that long ago. "Mmph! Lt mm gmbh!"

"Quiet!" said Mustard, glancing behind them as the car, still with no driver, tore along the highway, "We should be safe in just a few minutes!"

Safe?

…

"Boy," said Evan, "she really must be attached to that pin."

"What pin was that?"

"The one she said she must've lost." He looked at her quizzically.

"'Pin'? What 'pin'?"

"The one," he began, patiently, "that she said had sentimental attachment to. The one you said she could go get. You know, the butterfly thingamabob."

"That? It was in her hair."

"No, it wasn't- Oh, CRAP!" They both rushed outside, only to find a.:) no Terra, and b.) the back door of their car fully open.

Boy, this Murderbite guy can sure hold a grip, thought Terra, as the driverless car bumped and shuddered along the road. It had to have been a good twenty minutes, and he STILL hadn't let up. "Lt mm gmbh!"

"Hold on, we're almost there!"

That's what I'm afraid of, she thought.

But the car bumped and jostled it's way to the front of a house surprisingly a lot like the one she'd just come from. To her vast surprise, Mudguards suddenly let her go, opened the car door, and, very politely, held it for her. She scrambled out, falling to the ground at his feet. She looked up.

He was standing over her, offering a hand up.

Okay, she thought, not your typical super villain attitude. Then she surprised herself: without even thinking about it, she took his hand and stood up. "Okay," she said, dusting herself off, "I don't suppose you'd wanna tell me what THAT was all about?"

"Not out here. Let's go inside." Again he glanced back down the road Terra guessed they'd just come from. "Inside the safe house."

"YOU'VE got a safe house?"

"Doesn't everybody?"

"Wait. You're the bad guy. Why should I follow you into that house?"

"Because I know your weakness."

"I've got a weakness?"

"Yes. Your ONE WEAKNESS."

"Okay. I'll bite. What is it?"

"If you DON'T follow me indoors, you'll never know what I have to say." He was at the front of the door, not even looking at her. "And I know you well enough to know you're WAY too curious to let THAT go."

Damn you, she thought to herself, even as she followed him indoors.

He even held the door for her.

Hey guys sorry to keep this waiting work has been a pain lately I hope you guys enjoy it please read a review

P.s. Happy holidays


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